i have also asked top lawyers how this case is likely to unfold. >> it is about justice, justice, justice and only justice. >> plus what is the shooter's state of mind? this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. breaking news in the trayvon martin case and dramatic news it is too. george zimmerman back in florida, arriving at the seminole county criminal justice center under cover of darkness moments ago. this is his booking photo just released. zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder 45 days after the shooting death of trayvon martin. tonight i'll talk exclusively to george zimmerman's brother, robert. but listen to what special prosecutor angela corey said about why it took so long to make an arrest. >> there is a reason cases are tried in a court of law, not in the court of the public and not by the media. because details have to come out in excruciating and minute fashion. detail by detail, bit of evidence by bit of evidence. and it's only then when the trier of fact, whether it's a judge or a jury, gets all of those details that then the laws apply to that and a decision can be rendered. >> that's our big story here. now to explain today's developments, dan abrams and attorney gloria allred. let me start with you, dan. dramatic day, dramatic development. put it into context. clearly this is not necessarily going to lead to what some may feel is an automatic trial. he goes to a judge first in florida who could just throw the whole thing out? >> that's right. the defense can ask for a hearing now to basically test out his defense, his stand your ground defense. and a judge could at that point believe that he's proved by a preponderance of the evidence that it's a valid defense and could literally throw out the case. that's not going to happen in this particular case. but what's interesting is the prosecutor's decision not to go for manslaughter but to go for the most significant charge she could find without a grand jury, which is second-degree murder. and that means this could not have been an accident and, therefore, trayvon martin was killed. no. when you're talking about second-degree murder, it can't be an accident. you're talking about a level of intent, depraved mind, an action which is imminently dangerous. these are important legal phrases, but the end result is he's facing now up to life instead of just 15 years. >> gloria allred, should we assume from this fairly dramatic action by the state attorney that they have got evidence that we are not aware of? >> well, they definitely have evidence that we are not aware of and they're not revealing that evidence, piers. and it would be inappropriate for them to do so. it's clear that miss corey has said they're there to protect their case and protecting their case means they're not going to reveal what they found in their investigation and their re-investigation, which they have done. >> i don't know that they have that much -- they'd have to have that much we don't know about. they certainly have more than the initial police department had. >> let's just spell out here, because this is the criteria to prove beyond a reasonable doubt second-degree murder. one, trayvon martin is dead. we know that is a fact. two, zimmerman's criminal act caused trayvon martin's death. he shot him and that is not disputed. was it a criminal act, that is disputed. three, there was an unlawful killing of trayvon by an act imminently dangerous to another and demonstrating a depraved mind without regard for human life. now, that seems from all we know a fairly strict criteria actually to be met by the prosecutor. yet but the fact they have driven this case as you say for the tougher second-degree murder rather than manslaughter, they must be confident of a successful prosecution. >> that's right. you can also consider there can be lesser included offenses once the case goes to the jury, so that's still a possibility. the only evidence that i think that they really may have we don't know about is forensic-type evidence, which is important. but i think that in this case the most important witnesses are going to be eyewitnesses who are the notoriously -- the witnesses who are notoriously problematic, eyewitnesses. nevertheless, i think that's what case is going to be b the audio tapes. who heard what. how does that fit in with the timeline, et cetera. and that's all stuff that's now pretty much available not just to the prosecutors but to the public. >> gloria, if you were prosecuting this case, where would you think the weaknesses are in george zimmerman's case from everything you've seen and heard? >> well, i would be thinking about where the flaws are and i would be interested in also what he allegedly has told family members who have appeared on television. whether there are inconsistencies in what he has told the police, depending on what he has told the police, and i would be interested in all of that. i would be interested in the forensics. of course i'll be interested to see what the defense is going to be. is it going to be that it was justifiable homicide? is it going to be that trayvon martin was attempting to kill him or commit some kind of felony against him? and i would have to consider what the defense would be. >> dan, clearly -- >> surely it will be self defense. >> i would imagine, dan, he's going to try and defend himself under the grounds of stand your ground. particularly in florida, it's in 20 odd states, but in florida it's pretty wide, the parameters for that defense. i would imagine, i'm a layman, not a lawyer, but that it gives him the best chance of getting off, the stand your ground defense. >> absolutely. he'd have to demonstrate that he reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger. the problem for him is going to be you can't use that if you've losing a fight. that's not the time stand your ground will apply. >> particularly if you started the fight. >> that's the crucial fight. >> and that's why the missing few minutes we know nothing about become utterly crucial. >> and he doesn't even need to have started a fight. the question becomes what happened after he followed him. if zimmerman confronted trayvon martin and said, hey, just as the woman who trayvon martin was on the phone with says happened and zimmerman was the one that confronted trayvon martin, that's going to be a real tough defense. it's going to be a really, really hard -- >> effectively he will have started an aggressive move. how significant -- let me go to gloria on this. how significant do you think if it comes to a trial, and it's likely to, will be the fact that george zimmerman makes the 911 call and is told are you following, he says yes. we don't need you to do that. okay. and then he clearly continues to follow trayvon martin. >> well, i think that's going to be important. there may also be an argument by the defense that he didn't continue to follow him, that he was retreating, that trayvon martin then followed him. i don't know because we'll have to wait to see what the facts are. but i think the defense will try to diffuse that "i was following him" type of argument. >> thank you both for now. let me go now to eric deckers. following the case very closely. he's a tv and media critic for the "tampa bay times." eric, how would you describe the mood down there following this announcement today? >> i would say among officials down here it's probably a little bit of relief. this is the eventuality that a lot of protesters wanted. they wanted to see zimmerman arrested. they wanted to see him charged to the fullest extent possible and that's happened. an there's been a lot of kind words between the martin's family and the prosecutor, who's working this case. so i think there's a sense that everybody kind of wants things to calm down a little bit here. and there is a sense as well with a lot of protesters that causing any kind of violence would be contrary to the health of the case, that it would hurt the martin family's case and might make the prosecution more difficult. so i think there is a sense that everybody wants things to simmer down a little bit. >> and how helpful to that process has been the dignified way that trayvon martin's parents have conducted themselves? i think it's been quite remarkable they have managed to avoid any inflammatory language, they have tried to calm things down wherever they needed to and repeatedly stressed all that they wanted, and they said this again today, was an arrest. they wanted the process of justice to take place. without an arrest, that could never happen. how important has their demeanor, their behavior been? >> oh, i think that's very important. and you saw when the new black panther party issued a bounty for george zimmerman's apprehension, the attorney for the family stepped out and said we don't want that and resisted that. i think they have been very smart in how they have handled the public face of the family. they have done key interviews well. they started speaking up early. as al sharpton said today, it's that kind of public face that actually seemed to pressure prosecutors into moving forward with this arrest and prosecution in the first place. >> eric, dan and gloria, thank you all very much indeed. coming up, robert zimmerman speaks out to me exclusively to me. robert zimmerman, after the break. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ interviewer: you were there the day the priceline negotiator together for your future. went down in that fiery bus crash. sister kathleen: we lost a beautiful man that day but we gained the knowledge that priceline has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale everyday so i can choose the perfect one for me without bidding. ooh, my. this one has an infinity pool. i love those. they just...and then drop off... ...kind of like the negotiator. narrator: save right now on thousands and thousands of hotels during the spring sale at priceline. [ male announcer ] you plant. you mow. you grow. you dream. meet the new definition of durability: the john deere select series. with endless possibilities, what will you create? ♪ learn more about the new select series x310 with power steering at johndeere.com/x310. he's been charged, he's been arrested, he's a criminal defendant now. we'll let the process work. do not -- let's not prejudge anyone any longer. let's just let the process work. >> that was george zimmerman's new attorney a little while ago. zimmerman is in custody tonight charged with second-degree murder in the death of unarmed teenager trayvon martin. tonight the shooter's brother is speaking out. joining me now exclusively is robert zimmerman jr. robert, thank you for coming back on the show. we spoke, obviously, a couple of weeks ago. dramatic developments today. what is your reaction and the family's reaction to the arrest and the charging of your brother george? >> piers, obviously as a family, we're devastated. i will say we are a strong family and we have been living a somewhat altered reality for quite some time. we have had to prepare ourselves for an outcome such as this, a possibility such as this. it is one of the outcomes or possibilities at this stage in our system. but we are devastated. i'm not the only family member speaking out because george doesn't have hundreds of family members who would love to speak out. i'm just the only one who right now can. for my family's safety, that being the first and foremost consideration in all of this, for my safety, you know, for joining you via satellite and not disclosing where i am, having lived like that, there were no winners in this already. the only silver lining in all of this is that my brother is safe. for our family, that's the only respite we'll get tonight when we lay our heads down to sleep is we'll know that our brother is safe. >> we have a picture on screen, as you were speaking there, robert, of your brother tonight. his official police mug shot. clearly i would imagine this is the worst case scenario for you, because they have thrown the book at him. he could have been freed, no charges, no action taken. it could have been a manslaughter charge. but, no, they have gone for second-degree murder which has a potential sentence of life imprisonment. how do you feel about the fact it's been such a tough charge? >> well, i agree. they have thrown the book at him. miss corey's office has. we're disappointed, as you would expect any family to be disappointed. however, as i've said, we have -- we realized early on in this process that there were groups, organizations, individuals who were not satisfied with any part of the answers that were given by pertinent parties in the investigation at the time, such as the police. they didn't like that answer. he had to go. the police chief, i'm referring to, chief lee. they didn't like the answer of the florida department of law enforcement. they didn't like the first prosecutor. they were starting to not -- apparently the congresswoman from mr. martin's district was voicing concern about this prosecutor. we are a family who respects the system. we understand there are many -- many rungs in the wheel of justice and this is one of the characters, the players, the prosecutor. the prosecutor has thrown the book. sometimes prosecutors do that because they're hoping in some semblance of justice or some appearance of justice that someone will plead down or somebody will take some deal. it's a shot in the dark. tactic, prosecutors have many tactics. i would have hoped the more courageous tactic, which would have been simply to say we're not prosecuting and here's why would have been consistent with what everyone else has said up until this point. it was not the outcome. this is an unfortunate outcome but we're a strong family. we are prepared for it and we're prepared for the rest of our american justice system to have its say in what ultimately should work out in the end to exonerate my brother. >> when did you last speak with george? when did you last see him? >> right. piers, for security reasons, i can narrow that window down to about ten days would be the last that i would be willing to say that i spent one or more days with him. so we were actually together. i can't say where or what we discussed about. we were together, did things that brothers do, enjoyed spending time as a family. george was not himself at the time. obviously he's under a tremendous amount of pressure, but he has a strong family that supports him and has been in hiding. it was good to be with him. but as i made clear from the first interview, before any of these marches, before any of these rallies, before the congressional black caucus weighed in, before the naacp jumped in, george was not right from this, from the moment he communicated that to our family before my first appearance on this broadcast with you. he was not right from the incident. there was no winner in this. us as a family viewed it as our brother could have been dead. our brother literally had to save his life by taking a life, an that's no situation that anybody wants to ever be in ever. >> what would you describe george's state of mind? you said clearly he's been suffering, that's to be expected. you spent time with him, you spent more than a day with him. and although some people have tried to question your closeness to your brother, your only brother, you've told me before this interview that you spent considerable amounts of time with him through january and february due to family health issues involving your grandmother and your father. >> correct. >> tell me about your relationship with george. tell me about how he has changed as a brother since you saw him in january, february, post this incident. >> you know, without getting into too many health details about other members of our family, our father and grandmother had health emergencies. my brother really stepped up to the plate. we were in the hospital every day with one or both of them caring for them, spending time together as brothers, as a family, as we knew our duty is as the two brothers of the family, to step up to protect our parents. and that's what we consider our grandmother, one of our parents. we have two parents, but we were raised by our -- helped out by our maternal grandmother at home. she stayed at home and she raised us. and we are a strong family. we came together when we needed to. george and i are very close, we love each other very much. he knows that. i'm very proud of him for handling, you know, despite what his attorneys came out and camera and said yesterday or anybody questioning his mental state, there are things obviously at every point of this we don't know. he may have actually already been in contact with the prosecutor's office simply more than -- you know, for one reason or another, maybe to turn himself in. we don't know a lot of things, but i'm proud that he did the right thing, which is what his original attorney had said he would do. george will turn himself in. there will be no manhunt, no spectacle or show. he is now a participant in this system. >> let me ask you -- let me ask you, robert, about the attorney situation because the two attorneys that he had, who i interviewed in an interview on this show, i think showed themselves in pretty grim colors yesterday with this absurd press conference and continued behaving like a bunch of blues brothers celebrities overall of this over what in my view is a very serious situation. how do you and the family feel about their behavior? are you confident now that george has appropriate representation? are you concerned about that? >> our concerns go in the order first and foremost obviously of safety for his life, then his well being, then it's our life and our well being. now we are -- from what i have seen of george's representation so far, i am -- i can speak for myself. i'm fairly confident that he is being competently represented. this attorney has a very well-established reputation in that area. our concern has always been in that order. always first for his safety. we are relieved that he is safe. it's the most bittersweet news to hear in your life, that your brother is being charged with a murder and to see him being taken into jail on live tv. and to somehow have to think, well, at least there's something good in all of that is he can't be attacked this way or most likely can't be hurt, killed, injured in a way that he has been on the run and underground in the streets for quite some time. >> let's take a short break here, robert. when we come back, i want to get back to the night of the shooting. i want to go over again with you in detail exactly what happened. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more sun tans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records down here on the gulf. more people more good times. this year we're out to do even better... and now's a great time to start. the sun's out and the beaches are even more relaxing. you can go deep sea fishing or enjoy our world-class restaurants... our hotels and rentals have special deals for the whole family. go golfing, kite boarding, or build the worlds biggest sand sculpture... with the world's best sand. so come on down to mississippi... get yourself down to louisiana... we'll see you in florida... you know you want to come to alabama. the gulf is america's get-a-way.