President Obama, GOP Presidential Candidates Comment on Trayvon Martin Case; Zimmerman's Attorney Speaks Out
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Erin. Thanks. Good evening, everyone. We begin tonight with breaking news in the killing of Trayvon Martin on a day that President Obama spoke out for the first time about the 17-year-old likening him to a son of his own. Tonight, the lawyer for this man, the shooter, George Zimmerman, is speaking out. The question, can he shed any light on what happened that night, the 26th of February when his client pursued Trayvon Martin through a Sanford, Florida, gated community allegedly confronted him and then shot the unarmed teenager dead. You are going to hear from him shortly. It's one of many new developments in the case tonight. Also, late words tonight that authorities in a nearby county have arrested a man who they say e-mailed a death threat to Sanford police chief Bill Lee. Chief Lee, you'll recall, has stepped aside temporarily yesterday. To date man who could fire him but hasn't, city manager Norton Bonaparte spoke about the force that Chief Lee runs. He says that any trust that may have existed in the police department is gone and that for African-Americans in Sanford, Florida, it was always shaky to begin with.</s>NORTON BONAPARTE, CITY MANAGER, SANFORD, FLORIDA: Let's be very clear. Chief Lee has been the chief of the Sanford police department for ten 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.</s>COOPER: We've been looking into the reasons why that is including the brutal beating of an African-American homeless man in which police initially let the assailant, the son of a Sanford police lieutenant, go free. That beating led to the early departure of the last police chief but it's not the only stain on the department. We'll detail that incident and others shortly. You're also tonight going to hear from Sanford's mayor, Jeff Triplett, who casts a no confidence vote on the current police chief. Meantime, President Obama who hasn't spoken publicly about the Martin case until now broke his silence today.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. 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 and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.</s>COOPER: Well, Republican presidential candidates also weighing in. Mitt Romney called it a tragedy. Rick Santorum telling reporter that George Zimmerman's action looks start different to him than those protected by Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law. Newt Gingrich saying Zimmerman was quote, "was clearly overreaching," unquote, in his neighborhood watch duties. Conservative Florida, Allen West saying that Zimmerman had no authorization, his words, "to shoot Trayvon Martin." Meantime, the protests go on across the country. And this, at Miami high school, were students walked out, marched to the football field and spelled out Trayvon Martin's initials for all to see. We got a lot to cover on this case tonight. Bit we begin with the breaking news and Craig Sonner who is the attorney for George Zimmerman. I spoke to him moments ago.</s>COOPER: Mr. Sonner. First of all, how is your client, George Zimmerman, doing?</s>CRAIG SONNER, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S LAWYER: Well, I think he's doing all right considering - I mean, considered all the stress that resulted all the things that transpired in the last few weeks.</s>COOPER: Where is George Zimmerman now?</s>SONNER: I don't know. My conversations have been on the telephone. I don't know his exact location. I believe he is in the area.</s>COOPER: You believe he's still in the United States?</s>SONNER: Yes.</s>COOPER: There had been some indication that maybe he was in Peru or a report he's in Peru. That's not true?</s>SONNER: No, that's not true.</s>COOPER: What has he told you about the night he shot Trayvon Martin.</s>SONNER: That -- I believe he made -- he should have made a statement to the police at that time, I think he did. I don't know for a fact because I have not seen the police report on this case. I have not discussed the evening of what occurred at that time. I think that will come out through the investigation process.</s>COOPER: You haven't discussed the details of that night with him?</s>SONNER: No.</s>COOPER: Why?</s>SONNER: Even if I had, that would be attorney-client privilege and I wouldn't be able to disclose that tonight. But at this point there is an investigation going on. And I advised him to cooperate with that investigation. And as far as what did or didn't happen that night, I think there have been interviews with different witnesses and so on to suffice the answer to that question for you.</s>COOPER: 911 tapes have been released. Do you know -- has your client heard the 911 tapes?</s>SONNER: Other than what's being played on television?</s>COOPER: Or has he heard what is being played on television?</s>SONNER: I don't know. I don't believe he heard what is being heard on television nor have</s>I. COOPER: OK. You have not heard them.</s>SONNER: No.</s>COOPER: There are some people who believe that your client may have uttered a racial slur. Some heard the 911 tapes. They believe they may have heard that muttered under his breath. Has he made any indication to you about whether or not he did utter a racial slur?</s>SONNER: I don't believe he did utter a racial slur. I asked if he uses racial slurs. And he has denied that. And as well as -- he's been involved in a mentorship program which I think the funny was that he actually mentored two African-American -- he was a mentor to African-American boy age of 14 and his wife was a mentor to the 13- year-old girl from, you know, via their parents. And in this -- I talked with the mother of the two children. And she indicated -- I asked her, you know, did he make comments to you that indicated he was a racist? And she said, no. And she is African-American. And for the things he's done, you know, as far as taking the children to the mall, you know, he took them to the mall, took them to the science center. Did the kind of outings to help, you know, to help the children have time out to be a friend to them. I don't believe that's the indication of a person that is a racist to do that.</s>COOPER: Has he given you any indication why he found Trayvon Martin suspicious?</s>SONNER: No.</s>COOPER: Because on the 911 tapes, he says these a-holes, they always get away. He also seemed to indicate he believed that perhaps Trayvon Martin was high or on drugs.</s>SONNER: I don't know. What is your question on that?</s>COOPER: Again, I mean, he seemed to indicate on those 911 tapes that he found Trayvon Martin suspicious based on something he saw. I'm wondering if he gave you any indication or if you have any sense of why he may have found Trayvon Martin suspicious.</s>SONNER: No. Again, I haven't listened to that 911 tape. And I haven't discussed that with him either.</s>COOPER: You said your client had injuries. There had been reports that he had a bloody nose and there was perhaps blood on the back of his head, grass stains on his back. What can you say what injuries if any he had?</s>SONNER: I believe that -- his nose was broken. He sustained injury to his nose. And on the back of his head, he sustained a cut that was serious enough that probably should have had stitches. There was a delay him getting to the emergency room so they -- by the time they got there, got to the doctor, there was an option not to stitch it up because it already started healing is my understanding.</s>COOPER: So reports indicated that the police didn't give him a drug test or didn't test for alcohol in your client. To your knowledge, was your client drinking or using drugs the night he shot Trayvon Martin?</s>SONNER: To my knowledge, he was not. I don't know whether -- what the results of any police report were. I haven't seen them. I don't know that they've been released.</s>COOPER: Did he indicate to you at all about how his nose got broken or his nose got hurt or the back of his head got cut?</s>SONNER: Well, it was an injury done by Trayvon Martin.</s>COOPER: Do you know if it was during a tussle? Does he describe at all how that injury occurred?</s>SONNER: I have not discussed with him the incident of that night other than the injury he sustained were from Trayvon Martin. I assume he hit him in the face and caused him to fall back and hit his head. I don't know how all the -- how it all came down. That is not something I discussed. I would not. That would be at this point attorney-client privilege and I wouldn't disclose that now if I did know it which I don't.</s>COOPER: Sure. I understand. Is there anything else you want people to know?</s>SONNER: Just to -- let's look at the facts of what happened and I'm not -- I really think there are other issues and it's not an issue of racist -- racism. And I do believe that George Zimmerman is a racist, part of this was motivated by a dislike for African- American.</s>COOPER: What do you think are some of the issue is this case?</s>SONNER: Well, the ultimate issue is that there was some kind of scuffle took place and there was a gun that was discharged and now there is a young man dead. So the issue is whether it was -- whether it will be -- the ultimate issue is was it self-defense in his case? And that's what all the evidence will hopefully lead us -- lead a jury to discover or, you know, is going to a grand jury was what actually - what can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt occurred that evening.</s>COOPER: And your client tonight is standing by saying this was absolutely self-defense?</s>SONNER: Yes.</s>COOPER: Craig Sonner. I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you very much.</s>SONNER: All right. Thank you. Bye-bye.</s>COOPER: I also asked the attorney if his client George Zimmerman has a message for the Martin family and he says no, not at this time. I want to get some quick reaction to the interview from our own lawyers, senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Jeffrey Toobin joins us now by phone. Jeffrey, he obviously wasn't saying a lot. He says he's represented George Zimmerman for two to three weeks now. Does it surprise you that he hasn't asked his client at all about what happened? He also says he hasn't been present for any interviews or discussions his client has had with police in all that time.</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): Well, that is certainly very surprising, particularly that he doesn't -- hasn't spoken to his client about what happened. Although, he seemed to waffle somewhat in part by saying he had not spoken to him and then he said well if I spoke to him, it would be covered by attorney-client privilege. So, he is not putting forward a story of what happened. He's not under obligation. We're not law enforcement. But if you want to talk to the public, you would think he would have some description of what actually happened that night other than to say it was for self- defense.</s>COOPER: He also said that he thinks it would boil down to a self-defense argument, not necessarily "Stand Your Ground" he said in a previous interview. That he said "Stand Your Ground" often is used for people defending themselves in a home. Did that surprise you?</s>TOOBIN: Well, I think, you know, he's probably being wise not to commit himself too specifically to a defense at this point. After all, his client is in charge. The grand jury is just meeting and as we have all been discussing for the past week, he may never be charged. So, he doesn't have to commit to a defense. But this is a case, obviously, of great interest to the public. And the question that everybody is asking is how could a 17-year-old boy be shot dead on the street and what were the circumstances that led to it? We don't know a lot more than we did, unfortunately, you know, before he started talking publicly.</s>COOPER: Does it surprise that you the attorney said he himself has not listened to the 911 tapes? I think most people in America heard the 911 tapes.</s>TOOBIN: That's true. I think in fairness to Mr. Sonner, he is probably just trying to keep his options open, not committing to one defense or another. But if you want to talk publicly about the case, you should at least know as much as a generally informed media consume know. I mean, we have all heard the tape many times, it's surprising that he hasn't.</s>COOPER: Is there anything legally that a lawyer would advice his client not to send a message to the family of Trayvon Martin. Is there any legal reason why an attorney would tell his client, look, don't say you're sorry or don't say, you know, I'm sorry for your loss or anything like that?</s>TOOBIN: I think -- frankly, I am somewhat sympathetic to his silence on that issue. Nothing he's going to say is going to make the parents of this poor kid feel any better. And if the time comes at the legal proceeding is over, he may try to reach out. But at this point, I actually am somewhat sympathetic to say nothing. Because the risk of saying something wrong, it probably exceeds the benefit of any sort of role expression of sympathy.</s>COOPER: Jeff Toobin, appreciate you calling in. Thanks. Joining me now is the Martin family attorney, Natalie Jackson. Miss Jackson, you heard George Zimmerman's attorney speaking tonight. Do you have any comments on anything he had to say?</s>NATALIE JACKSON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FAMILY LAWYER: No. I really don't. George Zimmerman, he's entitled by our legal system to have a lawyer. And, you know, that's perfectly fine with us. We believe in a legal system. It's just the people in the legal system that let this family down. There has not been an arrest in this case. So we want an arrest. And we want an arrest -- there should have been an arrest that night.</s>COOPER: Do Trayvon Martin's family, do his parents have any message for George Zimmerman?</s>JACKSON: No. They don't really have a message for George Zimmerman. They have a message that they want an arrest. They believe that George Zimmerman did something wrong and illegal when he killed their son, their innocent son, Trayvon.</s>COOPER: Can you tell us anything about the meeting that occurred between the justice department and Trayvon Martin's parents yesterday?</s>JACKSON: Well, the justice department says that will look in to whether or not this was a hate crime. They said that the hate crime standard was very, very high. It's a will and standard. So, they have to actually look at his actions and his intent.</s>COOPER: If, in fact, did he utter a racial slur on that 911 tape, we've had played that tape multiple times and let viewers make up their own mind about whether or not they think they heard a racial slur. If he did utter a racial slur, would that be -- our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, says that will be perhaps a big part of permitting the federal government to bring some sort of hate crime charges. Is that your opinion as well? And do you believe there was a racial slur on that tape?</s>JACKSON: Yes. That's my opinion that if there was. We listened to the tape. But we still, you know, we don't know. That's up to the jury to decide whether or not there was a racial slur. There are people that think they hear it. There are people that think they don't. So, you know, really ultimately up to a jury. And that's why there must be an arrest in this case so this case can get to a jury.</s>COOPER: The grand jury is not scheduled to convene until April 10th. As far - is that an acceptable timeline to the Martin family?</s>JACKSON: April 10th is - it has to be an acceptable timeline at this point because that's what they have been told. What they don't want is any delay in that time line.</s>COOPER: I know Trayvon's parents want to see the Sanford police chief permanently removed, not just temporarily stepping aside. Beyond that, are they confident right now the investigation by state and federal authorities will be done appropriately?</s>JACKSON: They are cautiously optimistic. They've been told a lot of things before. This is a case where, you know, we're optimistic by your words but really your actions speak louder than words. They want to see an arrest in this case. The police chief has no say in this case anymore. It's up to the state now.</s>COOPER: Natalie Jackson, I appreciate you joining us tonight. Thank you.</s>JACKSON: Thank you.</s>COOPER: As always, much more on the story at CNN.com. We're continuing to cover it on this program right now. Let us know what you think. We're on facebook, obviously. Follow me on twitter @andersoncooper. I'll be tweeting tonight. Let me know what you thought about the interview the various attorneys. There is more to the story tonight including the brutal beating and other incidents that have broken faith between the Sanford police department and many of the African-American community, they're supposed to be protecting in Sanford, Florida. We'll tell you about that. Also Sanford's mayor who was elected in part to improve his city's image, my interview with him ahead.