effort in the first term. we recall george mitchell in the first administration, and nothing happened with that. , not a lotpped aside happened after that. reasons,ver reason or john kerry has jumped in and to try to make something happen here. how do you grade the obama administration about the seriousness between these talks? think they are totally committed for the search. thereatly appreciate president goes the effort, secretary of state hillary clinton, and we appreciate all their efforts and we view them as partners in the search for historic peace. during the first term, the administration tried a certain way to get the peace. we froze settlement construction for 10 months. hillary clinton called it unprecedented and it was to give the palestinians back to the negotiating table. they did not avail themselves of that opportunity. since then, they have not been able to return to the negotiating table. the secretary kerry has very intensely fought to get them back to the table. all the core issues, these are tough tory easy. we believe we can address all of those issues and reach

prospect of these talks succeeding now than when george mitchell, president obama's first envoy, was in charge or when hillary clinton was in charge? the short answer is no. >> what we understand the talks to be is a procedural working plan setting the groundwork for future talks. you do not think there is the chance for formal talks to take place? >> there is always the chance that they will have more meetings. that is what they are very good at, having meetings. the question is whether this will lead to any extensive agreement or breakthrough. after that, not a chance. this is an israeli government that has made a substantial part of its settlers who oppose the two state solution in principle. on the other side, you have palestinians who are totally discredited, who do not have a mandate from the palestinian -- excuse me, do not have a mandate from the palestinian people as a whole. and and administer -- and you have an american institution that has been abject to provide israel with more military aid, more diplomatic cover than ever. it is unable even to get the israelis to utter the

, senator george mitchell in 1998 trying to forge a peace treaty in northern ireland. actual people and events at the heart of a fictional story in the new novel transatlantic. author column mccann has himself crossed that ocean, born in ireland, leaving in new york, his previous novel let the great world spin won the national book award. welcome. >> a pleasure to be here. brown: transatlantic. this is about connections between time, between ireland where you were born and america where you now live. is that part of it? is that how it was conceived? >> it was conceived originally because i was fascinated by the story of frederick douglass landing in ireland in 1845. a 27-year-old abolitionist who was still a slave at the time. and then finding a country where the people were poorer than the people he had left behind. >> brown: he comes as the famine beginning. >> exactly. and an extraordinary collision of history and time and circumstance. and it was such a fantastic story but i wanted to bring it up to date and bring it all the way up to the present day where senator mitchell negotiate

, see a new george mitchell gulf o come along, we e a new douglas come agent, and, you know, there are lots of people doing really good things in the world, as you know, and this is just one small thing where we bring lots of artists together, salmon rushdie is involved, sting has been involved, we have .. all sorts of writers like helping us out, ian mckuehn. >> 106 writers came together and gave us a free piece of fiction to use .. alexander harmond, all of these great people, my partner in crime is a mexican novelist who lives in chicago and we created this -- with a number of different people, and it is -- it is working, it is really working. >> rose: finally there is this. a teacher from newtown connecticut, after the terrible tragedy there .. contacted you and said that he had assigned let the great world spin as a reading project. that's right. >> rose: pick up the story. >> this man's name is lee key lock, probably -- you know, i have a huge regard for teachers, my wife is a teacher, you know, my great friend frank mccourt was an incredible teacher. this man is an incredible te

is a bad mead meeting. >> you find a former ambassador to israel and last time it was george mitchell. president obama wanted the signal, i won't have anybody who is automatically seen as tipping the scales towards israel. this time in the chief negotiator, they may say hey. >> you raise a really interesting point that will be the most fun part of this. less the issue between the palestinians and israelis, but the court politics around who is neshting. he is a great guy around frink leen stein. remember when dennis ross came in, he was the goy netanyahu called. he refused to call george mitchell. >> he has not made them this issue. the white house runs against the way it normally operates. that is to micromanage many of the foreign policy issues. that will be the game on whether or not this succeeds. >> they worked so hard to get to this moment, but we are in a point where you look and convince him to back up in syria that seems to be the crisis that maybe matters more. they really want to have the civil war and the border. >> i think there some challenges that are better don

of the morsi government than egypt's christians. >> george: indeed, attacks against christians have increased since the 2011 revolution, and today christian leaders are calling morsi's downfall nothing less than a miracle. chris mitchell brings us the story from cairo. >> reporter: this is tahrir square, the epicentre of the huge demonstrations that have taken place. here egyptians have gathered by the millions and changed the course of egypt's history. >> change the atmosphere as if you are breathing a new air, a fresh air. freedom. >> reporter: pastor sumi talfik of the evangelical church outside of tahrir square describes the events of the past few weeks as nothing short of miraculous. >> for me, it is a miracle. it is a miracle. it is god's hands. nobody can do that. we could see god's hands in the first revolution in the 1st of january, but this time we see it more clearly. >> reporter: in another part of cairo, father antoni gresh also says he sees the hand of god. >> we consider the dismissal of morsi and his party, and his brotherhood, is really american. it was the hand of

negotiator in place, george mitchell. he's someone who clearly, this president, wants to do what he can to solve this tragic conflict which has gone on for decades. he's made six trips out there, more than any secretary of state recently. he basically said, look, you want this administration in, this is your last chance. so i think there's a sense, certainly on the palestinian side, that if they don't try this, you know, that they could write off this administration because we've got a lot of other issues to deal with here in the united states. this was a moment that it's unclear, people are hopeful that it's going to work but i think it's a window that could be lost if at least there isn't an effort. netanyahu has been willing to negotiate with abbas. >> woodruff: how do you see the willingness of the two sides to do this right now? >> i think from a political point of view, the situation is difficult for both of them frankly. i think that's why it took some cajoling and some inducements and some persuasion and all those trips that david referred to by secretary kerry to get them t

yet, but i think george mitchell, democrat, trent lott, republican, i think that would be a great opportunity for our caucus to talk about how they view the senate. so we're going to have more joint caucuses, we're going to try to, i repeat, try to talk to each other than past each other. >> senator, can you talk about -- senator, on the floor you talked about senator mccain breaking his rule and in the process -- [inaudible] could this have been done without him? [inaudible] >> maybe. [laughter] john john mccain and i have worked together for a long time. i've worked with him 31 years. and we've had some pretty difficult times together. but in the 31 years we've worked together, there is no one i have ever worked with that is more a man of his word or person of his word than john mccain. so maybe we could have gotten it done without him. i've answered the question. >> [inaudible] >> uh-huh. >> you confident you'll get up or down votes on the three nominees for the d.c. circuit court? >> we'll take those one at a time. we're talking about executive nominees. we, those are going th

continues to roll out. andrea mitchell tonight. andrea, thanks. >>> another dramatic day in the second degree murder trial of george zimmerman in florida. as the jury got a good look at the physical evidence like trayvon martin's clothing that night and the gun used to kill him. nbc's ron mott has our report from sanford, florida. >> reporter: today, jurors got an upclose look at trayvon martin's blood stained hoody and the bullet hole created by the .9 millimeter pistol. what a state ballistics expert described as a contact shot. >> meaning the muzzle or the barrel of the gun was up against the sweatshirt when it was fired? >> correct. >> a complete dna profile which matched george zimmerman. >> reporter: dna testimony confirmed only zimmerman's fingerprints found on the gun and no dna of zimmerman's found underneath trayvon's finger nails. it was also a day zimmerman's law enforcement know-how was made public with his college professor, army prosecutor, saying that zimmerman aced a criminal litigation class. >> probably one of the better students in the class. >> 2010 course included

. >>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," court is in recess in sanford, florida, where george zimmerman is on trial for second degree murder. we have got your legal team standing by. we'll bring you back to the trial as soon as it gets under way this hour. >>> also -- >> the news is heartbreaking. our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the brave firefighters who were out there. >>> also this hour, we are expecting an update from officials in arizona where 19 firefighters were killed sunday by an out-of-control wildfire. 18 of them were members of an elite firefighting team. in addition, as mark kelly and gabby giffords launch a seven-day, seven-state tour to push for expanded background checks for gun buyers, gabby giffords speaks out about life beyond her remarkable recovery. >> how do you feel about america in 2013? >> i'm optimistic! i'm optimistic. >>> good day to you. i'm peter alexander, live in washington today. for my friend andrea mitchell, you see she's in aspen today. we've been following witness testimony in the george zimmerman trial. we've heard this morning al

mitchell reports" -- the latest from the george zimmerman trial. the lead detective in this case continuing his testimony today, shedding new light on zimmerman's physical struggle with trayvon martin. our legal team is standing by. we'll have them, as well as the trial. when it gets under way we'll take you there live. >>> honoring 19 heroes. the town of prescott, arizona is reeling today from the loss of the fearless firefighters. hotshots who died fighting the fast moving fire 85 miles outside phoenix. this morning the wife of andrew ashcraft, one of those firefighters who died monday, paid tribute to her husband and his fallen comrades on "today." >> in our time of mourning we want people to know that they were heroes, that they were heroes in our homes, they are heroes in our community, they are rehose for the community that they helped. our kids will remember them as heroes as well. >>> to cairo. more anti-government demonstrations fill tahrir square today as the clock ticks down for president mohamed morsi. he has until tomorrow to address the protesters' demands or the mi

mitchell reports." thanks for being with us. remember, follow the show online on twitter. thomas roberts will pick up coverage in the next hour as we continue to follow the george zimmerman trial live. that would be awesome! let me show you something. ok. walmart has a bunch of tasty lunches. i see. ok this one is less than $1.50 per serving. i like that. yeah. if you switched out fast-food lunches just twice a week you know you can save over $470.00 bucks a year. $470.00 bucks! yeah, that's more cheese in your pocket. save on hot pockets sandwiches, backed by the low price guarantee. walmart. still doesn't feel real. our time together was... so short. well, since you had progressive's total loss coverage, we were able to replace your totaled bike with a brand-new one. the tank, the exhaust... well, she looks just like roxy! you know, i'll bet she's in a better place now. i'm sure she is. [ ethereal music plays ] [ motorcycle revving ] getting you back on a brand-new bike. now, that's progressive. wi drive a ford fusion. who is healthier, you or your car? i would say my car. probably the

. >> mr. speaker, last week texas and america energy industry lost a friend, george mitchell who many knew as the father of fracking passed away last week in his home in galveston, texas. while his death is a sad occasion, his legacy will live on as the energy industry grows and prospers. it's ranked 13th in the gas production largely due to his innovator. he was a community builder, too, a visionary. he developed the woodlands master community when many just saw it as useless swampland. he played an integral role in reviving what i consider a freshes gem in my district, the island of galveston. george and his wife put countless hours and resources into restoring the strand which helped keep it a popular tourist destination. it's important we remember him not overwhelm for his contribution to texas business but also for his zeal and tenacity to give back to the communities where he lived and worked. i'm randy weber and that's the way i see it from where i sit here in america. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> unanimous co

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peter alexander in today for andrea mitchelling a the trial of george zimmerman nears its end. the next phase of this often wrenching process begins as the jury begins its deliberations. we will hear from the judge. we expect perhaps before the end of this hour with instructions for the jury. we want to bring in our msnbc legal analyst, lisa bloom and nbc's craig melvin live in sanford. 23 days of trial, 12 days of testimony, 56 witnesses. now finally we await a verdict. it could come, frankly, not long from now after the jury is read the instructions from the judge. lisa, i want to begin with you and just go back to what we heard over the course of the last hour. the final argument made by the prosecution. what was most effective and where did they miss? >> well, certainly going through all of the many lies that they say george zimmerman told. that's been the theme of the prosecution case. the web of lies. going through each one, he didn't see the street sign, he didn't know the address, he was lying about whether he was being followed or not, that he was not a responsible gun own

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george bush and yours truly. log in to facebook.com with "now." "andrea mitchell reports" is next. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors, where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i love you, angie. sorry, honey. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. humans. even when we cross our "ts" and dot our "i's", we still run into prob

first polish pope. in san francisco at the end of that year, there was a tragic moment. george moscone was shot and dianne feinstein became the mayor. and the biggest story of all, andrea mitchell joins nbc news and no one in public life is ever safe again. so, you know, even in montana, in a remote cabin where i'm sitting right now, that story is reverberating across america. a-rod goes into second place, andrea goes into first place. >> tom, you will always be in first place. tom brokaw, my friend, thank you so much. and tom, you're responsible, if not for you, i wouldn't be here today. >> well, it's been a great ride for both of us, and, you know, there are all those andrea exclusives and my friend, jim baker, who used to be the white house chief of staff during the reagan years, he said, no matter what time of the day or what day of the week i went to the white house, there was andrea, looking for a story. and that sums up how you get to be a great reporter. congratulations, my friend. and i hope that crazy al will have a special dinner for you, planned for this evening. i'm sure h

testimony from the george zimmerman trial in this hour. we'll be getting an update from sanford, florida and our legal team coming up next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. for a whole new way to manage your finances. for keeping track of credit and debit card purchases... ...checks, bills and even your saving and spending. all in one well-organized place. for seeing the small details and the big picture, so you can do more with your money. for finding out how pnc virtual wallet® can help you, go to pncvirtualwallet.com. pnc bank. for the achiever in you®. >>> the george zimmerman trial has resumed in sanford florida. this morning the defense presented friends for george zimmerman who described the voice in the background of that 911 call as zimmerman, they said, not trayvon martin, that of course in direct conflict the with the testimony of martin's mother and brother during the prosecution's case last week. joining us now, nbc's craig melvin live in sanford, florida, and msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom. lisa, first to you. the significance of the friends. here

mitchell reports," a juror's stunning admission to abc. >> george zimmerman got away with murder. but you can't get away from god, and at the end of the day he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with. >> found innocent under the law, one woman on the jury though now speaks out about george zimmerman prompting new outrage today. >>> like father, like son. edward snowden's father defends his son in a "today" show exclusive with matt lauer. >> i believe that my son when he takes his final breath, whether it's today or 100 years from now, he will be comfortable with what he did because he did what he knew was right. he shared the truth with the american people. >>> the circus is in town. the press has a field day with anthony weiner's latest admissions. i'll talk to the woman now leading the polls, mayoral candidate, new york city council speaker christine quinn. >>> flash point egypt. violent clashes in cairo today after the court orders the arrest of former president morsi