right back. and north korea at this moment getting ready to fire a long-range rocket. why that launch could set up a powder keg in one of the most dangerous corners of the world. i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> let's begin with the breaking news in a case that has gripped the entire nation. a senior law enforcement source says george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who shot dead an unarmed teenager trayvon martin will, in fact, be charged. florida's special prosecutor has scheduled a news conference two hours from now. of course, we'll bring that to you live. let's go to cnn's martin savidge. he's in sanford, florida, watching all of this unfold. set the scene for us, martin. what do we know right now? >> reporter: we know that sanford is, of course, the epicenter and right now there is a lot of tension in this town in the leadup to that special announcement that will come from the special prosecutor at 6:00. what we do know is that she has said quite plainly and this was the press release, the wording and it is very carefully worded. the release says, quote, miss corey is prepared, rather, to release new information regarding the trayvon martin shooting death. it doesn't say anything about charges, but that is what cnn has learned and that is what is much anticipated here. there are those who are divided. some wish to see george zimmerman arrested and put on trial. others say it is clearly a case of stand your ground and had the right to defend himself and shot trayvon martin. i had a conversation a short time ago with the mayor who says we are, prepared, unquote. what he means is city has been preparing for weeks for some sort of determination by the special prosecutor, whether it's the charge or not to charge. they say they're ready either way, reaching out to other communities if they need backup. they don't expect they will, they hope and they believe everything will remain peaceful, wolf. >> do we know what kind of charges will be filed against zimmerman? >> reporter: we have not heard the specific charge or charges. what's been talked about a lot is manslaughter in florida. with trayvon martin, it could get 30 years if convicted. we know it can't be first-degree murder because that's not allowed, at least not with the special pros prosecutor without a grand jury and that is not going to happen. angela corey has said that. there's aggravated battery with the use of a gun. all speculation up to this point until we hear from the special prosecutor herself and she says up to this point no charges have been filed. meanwhile, the whereabouts of george zimmerman is of concern especially to the family of trayvon martin after that bizarre news conference by his attorneys yesterday, wolf? >> they said those former attorneys for george zimmerman, he's probably not in florida. he could be far away which immediately raised speculation in my mind. he may be right outside in washington d.c., in northern virginia where he used to live where he has family members. do we have any clue where he might be right now george zimmerman? >> reporter: no. we have no clue other than what the attorneys spoke of yesterday and they did not say that they didn't know where he was. they said that they have lost contact with him and have not spoken to him in a number of days. they implied that they did, in fact, have a general idea. maybe not the specific address, but a general idea of what community he was and that he had been in contact with law enforcement. so it's not believed that he's disappeared from the map, but it is unsettling when you have the attorneys quit, you wonder what real communication path is now in place for george to turn himself in if he has to do that. >> stand by, martin savidge on the scene for us in sanford. i want to dig deeper into the breaking news with our legal analyst sunny hostin. she's a contributor to "in session" on our sister network trutv. based on what we know right now, do you agree manslaughter is the likely charge that will be file order second-degree murder? >> think manslaughter is the likely charge to be filed, wolf. bottom line, prosecutors don't want to overcharge cases and they don't want to charge cases they can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt and that's the evaluation made in every case and this is an especially high-profile case. the last thing the specially assigned prosecutor wants is to get this case dismissed before trial if she charges this case or to get an acquittal if she tries this case. and so when i look at the facts as we know them and to be sure, angela corey at this point knows many more facts that have been disseminated in the public domain. i would suspect that manslaughter would be the case that you could prove beyond a reasonable doubt and that's an unintentional killing, and when you look at sort of the facts again, that case would be a more comfortable case, a safer case to charge and try. >> given that very strange news conference yesterday by the former attorneys who disassociated themselves from george zimmerman right now. is it likely that law enforcement if they are going to feel at least a charge against zimmerman that they at least know where he is, if they haven't already taken him into custody. >> i think that's anyone's guess. of course, when you're a prosecutor and you are going to lodge charges against a person whom you know is represented. you do, sometimes, as a courtesy work with those defense attorneys to allow someone to bring themselves in especially in a high-profile case where a defendant's safety is at issue. you want someone to be able to surrender themselves to authorities rather than to conduct this sort of purple. now that we know he is unrepresented, it is possible that authorities will have to look for him and an arrest warrant would have to be issued and that really is a place that most prosecutors and investigators don't want to be. >> let's say he's in virginia or some place, out of florida and then you have to get extradition papers to send him from that state back to florida. that takes time. >> that takes time. you have to have the cooperation of other local law enforcement officials. it's done all of the time, though, wolf. it's done frequently, and i suspected that needs to be done that can be done, but again, it is just not the place you want to be especially in a high-profile case like this in a case where the potential defendant's safety has been called into question, and so perhaps we will find out where he is, if he is charged and we'll find out that he will be allowed to surrender himself and we had every indication of that when he was represented by the two attorneys and now that he's an unrepresented party as far as we know, i think an arrest perhaps could be difficult. >> i want you to listen, sunny, to the attorney general of the united states eric holder. he spoke out on the trayvon martin case earlier today. >> in order to bring federal charges in this case, and so we are continuing in that regard we're doing forensic things to build that case while at the same time we're helping the state as it attempts to build a case as well. >> what did you think of that statement from the attorney general weighing in on obviously a very, very sensitive matter right now. >> well, it goes on show you sort of the depth of government that this case has reached, right? the president has commented on this case. now we have the attorney general commenting on this case. we've always known that there was this parallel investigation going on, that the justice department had opened up a civil rights investigation, but i think if you listen closely to what our attorney general said he said that they're helping local law enforcement, and i suspect that this is really a local law enforcement case. this is a case that should be tried in a state court, not in federal court and not the federal civil rights violation, wolf, will be very difficult to prove. it's difficult to prove in any case, but given the facts that we know right now that are in the public domain, very difficult case, and i believe that's what -- if you read between the lines of what our attorney general said, that's where he was headed. >> sunny, i know you'll be with us throughout our program, as well. don't go too far away. the parents of trayvon martin have been speaking out and they have a news conference themselves scheduled tonight immediately following the prosecutor's announcement. cnn's lisa sylvester is joining us now. she has more on the reaction so far. what are the parents of trayvon martin saying? i know they're here in washington right now. >> reporter: yeah. they are expected to have that news conference in about three hours at the washington convention center and earlier in the day they did have a press briefing. it's not clear if they knew what was coming down at the time, but the lawyers opened that news conference by asking the public and for people to remain calm, to have faith in the justice system no matter what the outcome is. this all began, as you know, 44 days ago with the death of trayvon martin, and it was his father tracy martin who is probing and asking the question why? why was his son killed when his son was visiting him carrying just candy and a drink at the time, and this could very well end in possible charges being brought. and the pain of the family, though, wolf, was very evident as the family spoke out at the news conference this afternoon. >> for the last 44 days it has been a nightmare, and this is coming from a mother's perspective. i have been up and down as if i was on a roller coaster, but i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that justice will be served. >> reporter: now the lawyers and the family members, the parents, they also did address and they took a few questions and one of the questions that came up was about that for lack of a better word bizarre news conference that zimmerman's attorneys held yesterday and now his former attorneys and there was some question on whether or not he was going to be a flight risk. the parents said that they are hopeful, but the lawyers expressed some concern. >> we're hopeful that when it's time to make an arrest that they'll be able to make an arrest. >> they don't know where he's at, do they? and that's the troubling thing. the killer of trayvon martin is unaccounted for. we are concerned that he's a flight risk. >> reporter: so now we will hear more from the parents and the lawyers after the special prosecutor has her news conference and that is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. eastern and immediately following that we are expected to hear from the family to get reaction, wolf. >> and i know you'll be on the scene for us. lisa, thanks very much. we'll have much more on this story coming up. lots of questions remaining unanswered so far. stand by. we'll continue the breaking news coverage. we also are following other important news including rather controversial remarks about americans by the outspoken governor chris christie. jack cavery is coming up with "the cafferty file" and very high tension ahead of a north korean rocket launch that could happen at any moment and i'll talk about that and more with the former prime minister tony blair. he's here in washington. it's a burning question that has overshadowed this man's life. is his father the convicted mass killer charles manson? 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[ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. we're watching lots of news and let's get to jack cafferty with "the cafferty file." >> here he goes again, new jersey governor chris christie says the united states is in danger of becoming a nation of, quote, people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check, unquote. the refreshingly blunt republican governor says this is the least optimistic period he's ever seen for this country and he goes on, boy, doesn't he, saying, quote, it's because government's now telling people stop dreaming, stop striving, we'll take care of you. we're turning into a paternalistec entitlement society that will not only bankrupt us financially, it will bankrupt us morally, unquote. when americans stop believing that hard work and integrity will bring them success they will turn into couch potatoes waiting for the next government handout. he didn't mention president obama, but he previously said lawmakers need to stop tiptoeing government spending. he's suggested raising retirement age for social security and that's why people like chris christie and why a lot of them were disappointed when he decided not to run for president. a brand new poll in new jersey shows governor christie with his highest approval rating yet, 59%. the man has a point here. entitlement spending is out of control, consuming an ever-growing portion of the federal budget. we recently reported in the cafferty file nearly half of household that gets government assistan assistance. it jumped 23% during president bush's first two years in office. so here's the question, chris christie says the u.s. is turning into people sitting on the couch waiting for their next government check. is he right? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. >> let's not forget, you know this better than i do. new jersey is basically a democratic state and for a republican like chris christie to have those high approval numbers in that state of new jersey -- >> phenomenal. >> that's pretty good. >> i wonder if he might get on someone's short list for running mate situation. >> yeah. i suspect that's not going to happen. >> probably not. >> but i think he's still a young guy, four years from now, eight years from now he could decide to run if he wants to. >> he is refreshing. whether you agree with him or not, the guy speaks from his heart and spits it out in plain english and for a politician that's unusual. >> he doesn't mince words and that's what folks like about him. thanks very much. it's all about november now. mitt romney is free to focus all of his attention on president barack obama and he's going right after one of the president's strengths. let's bring in cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney has spent his first full day as presumptive gop nominee, it's a move to address one of the big general election short comings. >> reporter: it was no accident mitt romney visited karen brinker, a small business woman who owns a printing shop in connecticut. >> this president has failed america's women. >> reporter: the man who is almost certain to be the gop nominee is on a charm offensive to attract women voters. according to the abc news/washington post poll romney trails by seven points among registered voters and 19 points among women why romney has slammed the president on how women have fared during the obama economy. >> 92.3% of all of the jobs lost during the obama years have been lost by women. his failures have hurt women. >> reporter: the watchdog wen site politifact lists that as mostly false. while 92% of the jobs lost were held by women, the bureau of labor statistics show the number is much less 40% since the start of the recession in 2007. that's because men were laid off first, the agency notes, women second as with other recessions. the president's re-election team fired back asking whether romney supports the lilly ledbetter act. romney aides responded saying their candidate would not change the law and dredged up former administration communications director anita dunn who is quoted in "confidence men" calling the white house a hostile workplace, something she later denied saying. >> i was a severely conservative republican governor. >> reporter: if those aren't enough fireworks consider this campaign web video which chronicles the conservative positions romney took during the primaries on women's issues. >> do i believe the supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? yes. >> reporter: contrast that with what richard lamb has to say that christian conservatives are warming up to romney now that his main rival rick santorum is out of the race. >> it's hard for people who are pro-life and people that are pro-traditional marriage to understand how someone as an adult could have been pro-choice and could have been for gay marriage and then convert. >> reporter: late in the day the romney called on politifact to retract the story of job losses under the obama economy. it's a sign that this could go on for days if not all of the way to november. wolf? >> jim acosta, thanks very much. a blunt assessment and very blunt on the crisis in syria. i'll talk about that and much more with the former british prime minister tony blair. also is this man the son of charles manson? he tells us why he thinks the cult leader and convicted killer might be his father. and we're waiting for the special prosecutor in florida to announce what, if any, charges will be filed against george zimmerman in the trayvon martin case. you will see it live right here on cnn. we'll update you with information as soon as it comes in. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. 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