Coverage and Analysis of the George Zimmerman Trial
BANFIELD: Welcome back. Live in Sanford, Florida, where the George Zimmerman murder trial goes into possibly week three. We are going into a vacation day tomorrow and the prosecutors aren't over yet. So, they are close to wrapping up their case. But you know what? Two weeks to present the evidence against Zimmerman. Sometimes the evidence seems more like defense evidence. So, did the prosecutors do enough?</s>DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He has been portrayed as a gun-toting wannabe cop, an exaggerating liar, and a reckless profiler.</s>BERNIE DE LA RIONDA, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: Is it inaccurate that he is profiling Trayvon Martin as a criminal?</s>MATTINGLY: But after eight days, the prosecution may have also handed George Zimmerman the key to avoiding conviction on second degree murder. It came in the form of a simple question and a single one word answer.</s>O'MARA: Do you think he is telling the truth?</s>CHRIS SERINO, WITNESS: Yes.</s>MATTINGLY: The lead investigator in the case puts his stamp of approval on George Zimmerman's story, that he was acting in self defense, an extraordinary moment for any trial.</s>MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The lead investigator, the number one person in charge, said there were no material discrepancies. So, you're prosecutor who is trying to make him -- a claim (ph), but the person spend all the time investigating this case says there are none. How do you better than that as a defense lawyer?</s>MATTINGLY: It was potentially so damaging that the prosecution convinced the judge to throw the statement out and tell the jury to somehow forget about it.</s>FAITH JENKINS, ATTORNEY: The jury has heard it. So, they are instructed to disregard it, but they are human. They've already heard it. And that's going to be something that they take into consideration and carry with them.</s>MATTINGLY: Regardless, Zimmerman himself may have already emerged as his own best witness. His story of self-defense remained relatively consistent through multiple police interrogations, from video --</s>GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, MURDER DEFENDANT: And then he was here, and he punched me in the face.</s>MATTINGLY: -- and from audio.</s>ZIMMERMAN: He just started punching me in the face. And I started screaming for help.</s>DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: George Zimmerman gets to put his story in front of the jury without being subject to cross examination. That is gigantic for George Zimmerman.</s>MATTINGLY: And now, Zimmerman may not have to utter a single word in the courtroom. (on camera): What would have to happen now for George Zimmerman to take the stand?</s>O'MARA: I would have to convince myself the state has proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt today, or when that decision is made in order to decide it to put George on the stand.</s>MATTINGLY: A possibility that seems increasingly remote, giving rise to speculation that if Zimmerman is to be found guilty it might be of a lesser charge than second degree murder.</s>BANFIELD: Ah, the lesser, as David Mattingly is here with me live. That is something that a lot of people have talked about.</s>MATTINGLY: Right.</s>BANFIELD: Did the prosecution go too far with second degree murder? Were they aiming high, hoping to end low on a compromise by this jury?</s>MATTINGLY: It certainly appears that they are headed that way. The way this has to work, the prosecution and the defense has to ask for it. The judge has to agree with it and then the jury has to go with it. What we're seeing right now, there was no real change in strategy. The prosecution is still going after the emotion, showing us the bullet hole in Trayvon's clothes, showing us the gun, and then the defense is going after the details. That's where they think they're going to find acquittal no matter what the charge might be.</s>BANFIELD: Oh, the devil is in the details.</s>MATTINGLY: Right.</s>BANFIELD: Got it. Well, usually, that's a really good defense strategy. But the weird thing is, I'm watching these witnesses and they seem like defense witnesses. Not always, but for a large part you don't need to pick apart a lot of what they say.</s>MATTINGLY: That's right. And for anyone at home who has been watching this trial, it seems like a lot of the witnesses called for the prosecution have been very, very helpful to the defense. And even when they put George Zimmerman on the stand so to speak, be it video when he was talking to police, via audio when he was talking to police, it always came out better for him.</s>BANFIELD: So, stand by for a second. I think, listen, we have been juggling a lot of breaking news at CNN today, not only here in Sanford, Florida, but also, David and I have been watching on other monitors what's going on in Egypt. So, we are keeping a live eye on Egypt. And we are hearing some breaking news out. We are trying to scramble our reporter. Ivan Watson has been doing an amazing job because there is this report that the ousted president Mohamed Morsy is actually being held now, that he is being held by authorities. We have been asking all day, where is Mohamed Morsy? Ivan Watson, I know you are live with us. If you can hear me now, out of Tahrir Square, this report is coming from "Reuters". And it's according to a Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson and security personnel that the former and ousted president is being held. Do you know anything more about this?</s>IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The only follow up we have from that initial "Reuters" news agency report, Ashleigh, comes from one of the spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Gehad El-Haddad, who has put out a note on Twitter saying that Morsy is being held at this point by Egyptian authorities. So that's about all we have right now. I'm sure we're going to ill perhaps learn a little bit more. It is remarkable to consider that Mohamed Morsy is Egypt's first elected president ever in the history of this really, an ancient civilization, the first elected leader and after barely a year in office, now according to these preliminary reports has not only just been stripped of the position of president but now appears to also be being held by Egyptian security forces. Within the last couple of hours, it's not just Morsy who appears to be a target but the Egyptian security forces have also moved to shut down a number of media outlets supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, at least three TV stations and some of their employees have been arrested. But also have been rounding up top officials in the Muslim Brotherhood, as well. All of that going on while the people back here are celebrating with fireworks and waving Egyptian flags, what they argue is the Egyptian military simply defending the will of the Egyptian people or at least one part of the Egyptian population -- Ashleigh.</s>BANFIELD: Well, and I think that's critical. There have been so many other protests in favor of Mohamed Morsy. I think it begs repeating, Ivan Watson, that this is a "Reuters" report saying the ousted president is being held by authorities, that according to the Muslim Brotherhood. I'm actually going to tell you, CNN has been able to get confirmation. That "Reuters" report is also a CNN report that Mohamed Morsy is being held by authorities. This flies in the face of what the United States president said in a strident statement: no arrests, no political arrests the president or of people of his party. We will be watching this carefully. "A.C. 360" is working very hard on this story as well. Ivan is collecting more information. They're going to have a whole lot more coming up just moments from now. In the meantime, again, two breaking stories all day long here in Sanford, Florida, small place with a very big issue on its hands, the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman. Crucial DNA. The CSI effect taking center stage in this small courtroom. What was found on the gun? What was found under Trayvon Martin's fingernail? Why does all of that matter? We're going to find out all of that in just a moment.