today, the man who could fire him but hasn't, city manager norman bonaparte, spoke about the force that chief lee runs. he said any trust in the police department is gone and this for african-americans in sanford, florida, it was shaky to begin with. >> 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 community go back many years. >> we have been looking into that, including the brutal beating of a homeless man, in which they let the son of a sanford police lieutenant go free. that led to the early departure of the police chief. we're going to detail that incident and others shortly. and you're going to hear from sanford's mayor, jeff triplett. and meantime, president obama who hasn't spoken publicly about the martin case until today speaks now. >> but my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. you know, 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 it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> well, the republican presidential candidates weighing in. mitt romney calling it a tragedy, rick santorum saying that the actions look starkly different to him than those protected by florida stand your ground law. newt gingrich said that zimmerman was clearly overreaching in his neighborhood watch duties. allen west said zimmerman had no authorization to shoot trayvon martin. meantime, the protests go on across this country. in this miami high school, the students marched out and spelled out trayvon martin's officials for all to see. we have breaking news and we have craig sonner, the attorney for mr. zimmerman. first of all, how is your client, george zimmerman, doing? >> well, i think he's doing all right considering, i mean, he's under a considerable bit of stress as a result of all the things that have been transpired in the last few weeks. >> where is george zimmerman now? >> i don't know. my conversations have been on the telephone. i don't -- i don't know his exact location. i believe he's in the area. >> so he's still -- >> i have been in contact with him. >> you believe he's still in the united states? >> oh, yes. >> there had been some indication maybe he was in peru or a report he was in peru. that's not true? >> no, that's not true. >> what has your client told you about the night he shot trayvon martin? >> that i believe he's probably -- he should have made a statement to police at that time. i think he did. i don't know for -- i don't know for fact because i haven't seen the police reports on this case. i have not discussed the evening of what occurred that time. i think that'll come out through the investigation process done by law enforcement. >> you haven't discussed any of the details of that night with him? >> no. >> why? >> when -- 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's an investigation going on and i have 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, just to suffice to answer that question for you. >> the 911 tapes have been released. do you know -- has your client heard the 911 tapes? >> other than what's being played on television? >> or had he heard what's being played on television? >> i don't know -- i don't believe he has heard what's being played on television nor have i. >> okay. you have not heard them. there are some people who believe that your client may have uttered a racial slur. some have heard those 911 tapes, they believe they may have that muttered under his breath. has he made any indication to you about whether or not he did utter a racial slur? >> i don't believe he uttered a racial slur. i asked him if he uses racial slurs and he denies that. he's been involved in a mentorship program and the funding has been cut, but he -- 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 she -- 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, 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 who's a racist to do that. >> has he given you any indication why he found trayvon martin suspicious? >> no. >> 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 was on drugs. >> i don't know. what's your question on that? >> again, i mean, he seemed to indicate on those 911 tapes he found trayvon martin suspicious based on something he saw. i'm wondering if he has given you any indication or if you have any sense of why he may have found trayvon martin suspicious? >> no, i have -- again, i haven't listened to that 911 tape and i haven't discussed that with him either. >> you said your client had injuries. there were reports he had a bloody nose, there were reports of blood on the back of his head, grass stains on his back. what can you say about what injuries if any he had? >> i believe that he has -- 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 stitches, but there was a delay in 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 had started healing is my understanding. >> so the reports had 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? >> to my knowledge, he was not. i don't know what the results of the police report were. i haven't seen them. i don't know that they have been released. >> did he indicate to you at all how his nose got broken or his nose got hurt or the back of his head got cut? >> well, it was an injury that was done by trayvon martin. >> do you know if it was during a tussle? did he describe at all how that injury occurred? >> i have not discussed with him the incidents of that night, other than the injuries he sustained from trayvon martin i assume hit him in the face and caused him to fall back and hit his head. that's not something i have discussed. that would be at this point attorney/client privilege and i would not disclose that even if i did know. >> sure. is there anything else you want people to know? >> just to let -- let's look at the facts of what happened and i'm not -- i really think that there is -- there are other issues in this case and it's not an issue of racist -- racism. and i don't believe that george zimmerman is a racist. >> what do you think are some of the other issues in this case? >> well, the ultimate issue is that there was some kind of scuffle that took place an there was a gun that was discharged and now there's a young man dead. so the issue is whether it was -- the ultimate issue is was it self-defense in his case? that's what all the evidence will hopefully lead us -- lead a jury to discover or, you know, or going to the grand jury. what -- you know, what can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt occurred that evening. >> and your client tonight is standing by saying this absolutely was self-defense? >> yes. >> craig sonner, i appreciate your time tonight. thank you very much. >> all right. thank you. bye-bye. >> i also asked the attorney if his client george zimmerman has a message for the martin family? he says no, not at this time. i want to get some quick reaction from our own lawyers, former federal prosecutor jeffrey toobin joining us by phone. he wasn't saying a lot. he say 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 says he hasn't been present for any interviews or discussions his client has had with police in all that time. >> 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, theled be covered by attorney/client privilege. so he is not putting forward a -- you know, a story of what happened. i mean, he's not under obligation. we are not law enforcement, but if he wants 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 just self-defense. >> 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 -- does that surprise you? >> 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 hasn't even been charged. the grand jury just meeting and as we have been discussing for the past week, he may never be charged. so he doesn't have to commit to a defense. but this is case obviously of great interest to the public. and, you know, 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 before he started talking publicly. >> does it surprise you he has himself has not listened to the 911 tapes? i think most people in america have heard the 911 tapes. >> that's correct. i think in fairness to mr. sonner he's keep his options open, but if you want to talk publicly about the case you should at least know as much as a generally informed -- just media observer or media consumer would know. i mean, we all heard that tape many times. it's surprising he hasn't. >> is there anything legally that a lawyer would advise 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 i'm sorry for your loss or anything like that? >> i mean, i think -- frankly, i am somewhat sympathetic to his silence on the issue. nothing he says will make the parents of this poor kid feel better. if the time comes that the legal proceeding is over he may reach out. but at this point, i'm somewhat sympathetic to the risk of saying something, because the risk of saying something wrong can go beyond the expression of sympathy. >> joining me is the martin family attorney, ms. jackson. you heard mr. zimmerman's attorney speaking and do you have any comments on anything he had to say? >> no, i don't. george zimmerman is entitled to have a lawyer and, you know, that's perfectly fine with us. we believe in a legal system. it's the people in the legal system that have let this family down. there's 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. >> do trayvon martin's family, do his parents have any message for george zimmerman? >> 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. >> can you tell us anything about the meeting that occurred between the justice department and trayvon martin's parents yesterday? >> the justice department would look into whether or not this was a hate crime. they said that the hate crime standard was very, very high. it's a standard. they have to look at his actions and his intent. >> if in fact he did utter a racial slur on that 911 tape, we have played that tape multiple times and let viewers make up their own mine about whether or not they hear a racial slur, if he did utter a racial slur, our legal analyst jeffrey toobin said that would be a big part of allowing the federal government to bring in hate crime charges. is that your understanding as well? >> yes, that's my opinion. we've listened to the tape but we don't know. that's up to the jury to decide whether or not there was a racial slur. there's people that think they hear it. there's people that don't. so, you know, really that's 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. >> the grand jury is not scheduled to convene until april 10. as far as -- is that an acceptable time line to the martin family? >> april 10, it has to be an acceptable time line at this point because that's that they have been told. what they don't want is any delay in that time line. >> i know trayvon's parents want to see the police chief permanently removed, not just temporarily stepping aside. right now are they confident that the investigation by the state and federal authorities are going to be done properly? >> they're cautiously optimistic. they have been told things before. we're optimistic by your words, but really your actions speak louder than words. the police chief has no say in this case at all. it's up to the state now. >> natalie jackson, i appreciate you joining us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. >> much more on the story at cnn.com. we're continuing to cover it right now. let us know do you think we're -- we're on facebook and follow me on twitter. i'll be tweeting tonight. let me know what you thought about the interviews with attorneys. that's more to the story tonight, including otherence departments that have broken -- including other incidents, and we'll tell you about that. also sanford's mayor who was elected in part to improve the city's image. i interview him ahead. from neutrogena® naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body. in less than a minute i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends march 31st. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. the lawyer for trayvon martin's killer is speaking out. he says his client, george zimmerman, acted in self-defense. that he's not racist, and and has not left the country and would surrender to authorities if charged in the shooting. you also heard the sanford city manager talk about the loss of trust and tom foreman has the evidence on that. >> reporter: you're looking at a youtube video that caused a sensation in sanford, florida, in late 2010. long before the trayvon martin shooting. it shows a young white man punching a black man in the back of the head outside a bar, sending him to the hospital. and yet the police made no move to arrest the assailant for weeks. why? many believe it was that young man, justin kohlson, was the son of a police officer. he later paid medical bills for the wounded man and ended up with a year's probation. but that did little to ease tension, especially in the african-american community. the nypd is right now collecting allegations of such incidents. beatings and intimidation and worse. few appear to be corroborated at this point, but they clearly resonate with at least part of the community. >> we have heard stories with regards to this department of case after case, where black men have been killed or attacked and people have walked free even though those black men were not armed. >> many of the young people have been shot and killed, some by policemen and when they investigate then they have to get -- it's nothing. it's nothing. it's not due process. it's just injustice to the city. >> reporter: in 2005, an african-american teen was shot and killed as he drove away from two security guards with ties to the sanford police department. the guard said he tried to run over them and he fired in self-defense. they were arrested after several months. the shooter charged with manslaughter. they were eventually cleared of the charges. the city has tried to address concern over such incidents. has made changes to the police department, specifically for that purpose. and some local folks admit they have seen some progress. indeed, the current police chief came on the job less than a year ago with a mandate to improve relations with the minority community in the wake of the kohl lisen attack. still, events of recent days suggest that's a long way to go. tom foreman, cnn, washington. well, now the mayor, jeff triplet he wants to change the perception of the city and he wants people to see sanford as a historical city with promise. a worthy ambition, but damage control comes first. i spoke with the mayor earlier tonight. mayor, first of all, what do you say to the parents of trayvon martin who still are asking why their son's killer hasn't been arrested. >> the only -- what i can say right now is that i truly feel in my heart that i have taken every step possible from the point in time that i -- that i became aware of it to -- to get answers, you know, to go to the department of justice, to ask the fdle to get involved. the things that have happened since that point in time with the special prosecutor and the investigation process that we're going through. i can't change the things of the past. i can't -- i can't take away what has transpired. but all i can say is that i'm going down the path, i'm doing everything within my power to find out what truly happened. >> you entered a vote of no confidence in your police chief on wednesday night. he's stepped aside, but only temporarily making a point saying that he stood by the investigation his department conducted. the parents of trayvon say he should be permanently removed. what's your response to that? >> i completely understand that, that sentiment. i have not truly had the opportunity to sit down with mr. bonaparte. we have kind of gone in different directions. >> three's the city manager. >> that's the city manager, yes, sir, sorry. to find out exactly what their thoughts -- what the thoughts are with -- what the thought process was and where do we go from here. i know he's stated in the past he wants to see the true investigation to come out before he makes any decisions about that. and as of right now, i agree with that. having him step aside, even though it's temporarily it's the right thing for our city right now. we'll make some further determinations and decisions as the days come by. >> the chief of police as i said said that he stands by the investigation. do you stand by the investigation into trayvon martin's death? >> i have a lot of questions about this. i have said that since day one. i don't know -- i have not seen the investigation. i don't know the ins and outs of the investigation, but i like everyone else in the nation has some real concern and questions. that's why we have asked outside sources to come in and review it and take a look at it. i think that's truly going to be the determination for what transpires. >> cr