Controversial Stand Your Ground law. The lawyers who represented Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman are here. Plus, for the president , it was the best of weeks and the worst of weeks, depending on your point of view. Michael cohen again dominating headlines claiming trump knew in advance of the heating with russian representativeles. Meanwhile, the longstanding accountant gets a federal subpoena. Amidst the legal woes came more economic news. The president lifts the gdp above 4 . Midterms on the horizon, is it still the semistupid . And this Pennsylvania 5th and 6th grade teacher has been moonlighting for years. Suddenly its endangering his day job . Because he plays a bad guy that does the nazi salute and shouts z zig heil. There are no charges in florida because of the florida stands your ground law. Its the same one much discussed in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Now, federal lawmakers are calling the doj to investigate. So how did we get here . After finishing her nursing shift, Brittany Jacobs and her boyfriend wanted to grab snacks and drichgs. So they took their kids under the age of 6, they parked in the handicapped spot, despite none of the people in the car are disabled. Mclaughlin and her 5yearold went inside. Also in the lot a regular at the circle a whose pet peefb was able bodied people taking that reserve spot. After inspects their car for a haent capped permit owe handicapped perm and drew none. Mclaughlin noticed, came out of the store, confronting the Man Threatening his girlfriend and kids and he takes out a gun immediately and shoots him. After the sheriff declined and charged him, there were public calls for the sthat enate to do otherwise. They asked the doj to investigate the case with signatures from corey booker, Kamala Harris and ac hastings. Joining me to discuss this issue, benjamin crump, who famously represented Trayvon Martins family and mark ohara who defended george virm. The sheriff said the heater is said having been slammed to the ground, he was going to be slammed again is that the right question this. I dont think so, michael. You can watch the video. Its clear when he pulls that gun out. We have to remember hes the initial aggressor. This is a australian him man who approaches a mother in the car with her two toddlers in the back seat. Just imagine that for a second . How you feel tore that. But after he comes out to defend his family and defend his property, if anybody should have the right to Stand Your Ground it is him. When he pushes him back and he falls, he pulls the gun out. Watch the video. Marquise mclaughlin takes four steps back, four seconds elapsed, he is not in intimate fear. There is no on theive threat. There is no justification for him to shoot Marquise Mclaughlin in front of his infant children. As i watch that and eval wait the tape myself. Is the sheriffs analysis incorrect or is the law at fault . Im not comfortable with the outcome of this case. I should say out front. Am i to blame the law or the way in which its being applied . I think the sheriff is incorrect, the state attorney Bernie Mccabe should know that there is enough evidence to charge this killer with cold blooded murder. Less troubling for many in communities of cover that you can pick a confrontation. You can be the initial aggressor. You killed an unarmed black person and then you say, oh, it was self defence. I was standing my ground. You get to go home and sleep in your bed at night. We think the law is a bad law that encourages people to take the law into their own hands. Its a license to kill black people and people of color, because many times when black people make their Stand Your Ground argument, its behind the bars of a jail cell but white moo people make their stands your Ground Arguments a week later after they have been sleeping in their beds comfortable the law is applied racially. We feel its a terrible law that florida needs to address. They were the leader for Stand Your Ground. Hopefully they can have laws about rights. We have little laws about gun responsibility, if any. Thank you so much for being here. Let me shift to mark omar. Reporter was this a case of retribution or self service . Well, you know the way ben said it is a good analysis of it. The sheriff had a problem with the Stand Your Ground law because the sheriff could, in fact, be liable if he arrests without good reason. So to answer the question, when you look at that tape, when you look closely at it, mr. Mclaughlin did, i disagree with ben, mclaughlin was the initial aggressor in that he started the physical confront axe, having said that he also backed off after. That i dont think the shooter tant gets to shoot as you say, as i said in retry buchlths i have a tough time believing even though he was on the ground he was in reasonable fear of imminent great bodily injury. Everything else aside, we do need to look at it from his perspective, are you in reasonable fear at that moment of ongoing imminent great bodily harm and quite honestly, i dont think the tape shows it, even presuming the way a person looks, reacts and interprets things when theyre in the middle of a physical confrontation. In other words, if we can Za Bruder The Tape the man who shoved him is towering over him. The question, whats in his head and is whats in his head a reasonable fear of imminent great bodily harm. Boom. Right there is the question. Thats absolutely correct. The only analysis i would add to it, we do need to look at it as the statute requires from dresdas perspective. What what he is going through. You get thrown to the grounds, you have a dutch of adrenaline into your body. We know from cops telling, you get Tunnel Vichlgs you dont hear things, interpret things the way. Sounding like a Criminal Defense Attorney at a moment, dresda is in a position where his Michael Smerconish tackles the American political and news stories of the week, offering only one kind of talking points his own. Just backed up like four stems, few watch it again, pardon my interruption, we can all see this. He absolutely did. Again, florida tried to pass almost did pass a Warning Shot Statute that would have said, you are allowed to take out the gun. You are each allowed to shoot it to let the person know, im armed,ly use it. Thatt the theory behind it. But the idea with a two, three, four step back in two minutesing up, and a two, three, four second delay, i think that if you are going to exercise your Second Amendment rights and we have them. We will always have them. That you have to do it responsibly. And heres the problem. Someone like dreska who used their weapon unreasonably really affects the rest of us and our ability to properly utilize our Second Amendment rights. He used it improperly, now focus is again on that. Great observation. We will dig deep into that. In the meantime, im asking this, which will have more impact on how long donald trump is the president . Go to my website and cast a ballot. Which will more determine President Trumps longevity in office . A Strong Economy or the mueller and Southern District investigations . To most people, i look like. Most people. But on the inside, i feel chronic, widespread pain. Fibromyalgia may be invisible to others, but my pain is real. Today so why is donald trump so popular with his supporters, despite being so tupd on so many fronts . Simple, its the economy. If elected the u. S. Groat product would hit 4 . A lot of people mocked him. Its the best showing since the Third Quarter of 2014. Remember unemployment remains at a near record low. Joining me now is steve cortez just named as an ad advisor to President Trumps 2020 reelection xavenl he was a Wall Street Trader for 20 years and head strategist of a company that had advises banks and head funds, im giving 30 seconds to take a victory lap. Then i want to play devils advocate. Go ahead. Sure. We should take a victory lap, by the way. Not just for team trump, but for team america, more importantly. Weve endured a long slow growth. The lions share went to the top of economic heard. Were seeing the opposite, accelerating growth and broadening growth, meaning its going to more people, for example, africanamerican and hispanic hit all time lows. The economic underdogs are doing well, for example, people without a high school degree, by Definition Underdogs the lowest unemployment since 2000. We are seeing fast growth because of tax and regulatory relief. There is an optimism pervasive and real and its tangible. All right. Let me be debbie downer. At least for the purpose of this conversation. John harwood, cnbc, put this in perspective, which will this rank for president s . Fifth under obama, tied for fifth oundz under george w. , tied for fifth under Herbert Walker bush. This would be the 14th best under rannal reagan. Doesnt sounds so impressive when you put it in that context. Sure, thats a great point. Im be the first to say, we have more work to do. This is just the beginning. I believe. That we cant have one great quarter. We need to have many great quarters and in succession. I believe we will. I think the government is creating the conditions for success in our country and Small Business is responding. Optimism, its an all time high or multidecade high, Consumer Confidence is soaring. I agree, there is more work to do, we have more wood to chop. We wont be satisfied with a single quarter growth. We need many of them. How about this one . Its all about the soybeans, buyers seem to have stocked before tariffs. This is actual lay reaction to trade wars. Right. I think thats an important america grow again. This was the key issue he was elected among many, the economic anxiety particularly for working class people in this country who havent seen their wages grow and seen expenses grow. Theyve reacted with their vote. Now i think donald trump is starting to deliver. Were not done, not even close, starting to deliver. Steve, thank you. Appreciate you being here. You bet, thanks, michael. Lets see what folks are saying via social media . What do we have . Smerconish why Dun They Real Donald Trump for the success . That was a hit piece that was no hit piece, that was me saying we got great economic news, there are some critiques and let me let the trump spokesperson run through them and respond to them. Go look for bias elsewhere, my friend. So this relates to the Survey Question at smerconish. Com. I hope you are voting. Which will more describe President Trumps longevity in office . Please go vote. Still to come the latest developments on the other half of that question, Michael Cohens claim that donald trump knew in advance about that notorious Trump Tower Meeting with russians. It could mean the president was personally willing to accept russian assistance or cohen is asserting himself. Its another Trump Employee just subpoenaed who really knows the president s secrets, including his tax returns. Who is Michael Weiselberg and what might he ends up revealing. Finally, when does a teacher get in trouble after trying to earn extra main after hours. As he is moonlighting as a nazithemed wrestler. Ill explain. Fish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Its a hightech revolution in sleep. The new sleep number 360 smart bed. It intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts on each side to keep you both comfortable. And snoring . How smart is that . Smarter sleep. To help you lose your dad bod, train for that marathon, and wake up with the patience of a saint. The new sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999. Smarter sleep will change your life. A Blockbuster Report from cnn this week said the president s former lawyer Michael Cohen is claiming the candidate donald trump had advance notice at trump tower with russian nationals. If it can be proven its a game changer. The lawyer Rudy Guiliani said its a game changer and this means cohen would be critiquing to two congressional meetings. His current claims werent mentioned in special reports on the house intel committee. Nevertheless, as is often the case with President Trump, partisans quickly took sides based on instinct and not everyday. My legal experience tells me such binary reviews i dont have look nuance. Im wondering if the truth lice somewhere in between. It is strange credulity of a desire to obtain dirt on Hillary Clinton and viceversa. Such as the nature of a hard fought campaign. Im not holding my breath of a Smoking Gun Evidence of the president s knowledge of this one particular meeting. If it existed, i think wed know by now, instead, this will come down to inference and interpretation. Joining me is michaelikchael is. Where cohen didnt say this, in his congressional appearance, my suspicion is he will be much more vague than prosecutors this week. Look, there is a lot of reasons to be cautious, but there is also a lot of reasons to hear Michael Cohens account. First of youll, the significance of this should not be understated, if the president then candidate was informed of the Trump Tower Meeting, it would clearly bolster any Obstruction Case that Robert Mueller was, is preparing because it would give a clear motive for the president , himself, to shut down the russia investigation. There is plausible reasons to believe the president might have been informed. There is that blocked phone call that donald trump jr. Makes after speaking to a person about the upcoming Trump Tower Meeting. The democrats on the House Intelligence Committee clearly believe that may have been a phone call to his father. There was the rmps that the campaign was going to give a major speech about Hillary Clinton just at the time that the emails setting up the trump tower meeting was taking place. But, you know, we dont know exactly what Michael Cohen has to say. As youve pointed out, hes testified twice before the house and senate in private. In his Public Statement he said he had no hint of any collusion by President Trump with the russians the house Intelligence Report says all witnesses were asked if trump was aware of the Trump Tower Meeting and denied it. So Michael Cohen may well have to cop to lying to the House Intelligence Committee when he privately testified because, you know, that, it would be a false statement if he didnt disclose this before. So, you know, we got to be cautious. I do have to say, it is a little odd the way were learning about this. Normally, if you wanted to get a deal with Robert Mueller. You wouldnt go running to the press. You would get a proffer to muellers office saying, heres what we got. And Michael Cohens legal team for whatever reason didnt go that route. What other observation . Is this not going to extend, all these recent developments, however they pan out, this not going to extend the mueller probe, not into the midterm but into the 2020 election . Look, it could, we dont know exactly where Robert Mueller is. There is a lot of reason to believe he is moving forward. We may see more before labor day, there is an assumption he will not want to do anything during the election season. So, i know, there is an expectation that there could be more coming from mueller. But loose, one of the most frustrating things ability all of this is, you know, michael, yeah, every Major Political scandal for the last half century, whether it be watergate or iran contra or white water resulted in public hearings in which witnesses testified before under oath before the tv cameras so the public can hear or learn them. None of that has happened here, Michael Cohen like everybody else has testified Behind Closed Doors and then each side spins and cherry picks those aspects of testimony that they want the public to learn about. Thats to way for congress to have investigated. You know if if Michael Conwants this out there. Richard burr and mark warner tomorrow or sunday, monday, could subpoena him, have him testify in public this week before the senate Intelligence Committee and we could hear what he has to say and what he doesnt have to say. Michael issiqoff appreciate it as always. Sure enough. Hes been called the most season person in the Trump Organization, hes not a trump. Hes been subpoenaed. Alan weiselberg, this week we learned, he was subpoenaed to testify before a Federal Grand Jury in the probe of trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen referred to him on the infamous tape to play mate Karen Mcdougal the Wall Street Journal is saying he could have ar testified. Since weasel berg knows where all the financial bodies are buried and his tax problems for sure. Could it lead to more problems with the president . Joining me is the senior writer, he wrote this Wall Street Journal profile of weasel berg under the headline Donald Trumps loyal numbers man. Richard, give me some insight. Who is this gentleman is this. Well, Alan Weiselberg has been with the Trump Organization for literally decades. He actually worked tore fred trump before donald trump going back into the 1970s. Hes been involved where so many of the transactions. His sons, baerry works for the trump barry works for the Trump Organization. Another son, jack, works for ladder capital. Which is a Mortgage Company thats closely involved with the Trump Organization. So he is there dealing with some of the minutia of running a large organization. He signs checks. Hes the money man as you mentioned, he knows where the money is going and he is very, very close to donald trump. Let them show that he is an integral organization. He is key to the organization and the big surprise as well, why is it taking so long to subpoenaing him . You portray him as i was seeing him as anen thit sis. He is a quiet guy, he eats in the lunchroom, married to the same woman for 46 years. Opposites attract in this instance. He has one attribute by i think plays well to less longevity, he tends to fade into the background, into the wall person as one person zreebd it to me. He doesnt upstage his boss, never has, and he seems to agree we his boss that you might understand disagreeing with donald trump is not great for career longevity. So hes been very good at that. Hes also been accorded an enormous amounts of trust. Remember, he is on or was on the board as treasureer of the donald trump foundation. He was on the board of the Miss Universe pageant, an organization close to Donald Trumps heart. So hes really been, oh and actually he was connected to the casinos, themselves. So hes been a part of this very sensitive portfolio of duties at the Trump Organization. Who knows more where the bodies are buried pertaining to the president . Michael cohen or Alan Weiselberg. I placed my money on alan weasel berg. Hes the person thats closest. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it, richard. A pleasure. Lets check in on your tweets and social media, from twitter, smerconish, whether or not the president knew about the meeting, nothing came from it. Its not a crime to listen to what people have to say. Everyone is making a mountain out of a mole head. Elaine, how do you know nothing came of it . We know the d this c server was hacked, we think we know, its not been proven, we know from the indictments there was meddling according to muellers articulation of the chronology. So how is it that you know there was no connection between the two . I dont know that. I dont know what mueller knows. Im eager to find out and my view of this is going to follow the evidence, not the politics. I want to know what you think, go to customerconish. Com answer smerconish. Com. Answer this question. Still to come arc School Teacher here in pennsylvania trying to pick up some extra bucks in his off hours, playing a Bad Guy Pro Whesleer character. Now his job might be in question. The character he place is a Nazi Sympathizer. Is that fair . Theaters, exercise and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services. And theres never been an easier way to get great advice. A place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. A place for mom. You know your family we know senior living. Together well make the right choice. Chicken thats right, chicken . candace new Chicken Creations from starkist. Buffalo Style Chicken in a pouch bold choice, charlie just tear, eat. Mmmmm. And go try all of my Chicken Creations chicken this is not a screensaver. Game. This is the destruction of a cancer cell by the bodys own immune system, thanks to medicine that didnt exist until now. And today can save your life. You know, teaching is a tough job, often for not enough pay. Now one Middle School Teachner Pennsylvania is in hot water for moonlighting at another gig. During the day kevin bean teaches fifth and sixth grade at the Middle School. A mom called my Sirius Xm Radio Show sang his praises as the Faculty Adviser of her sons cress club. At night he becomes blitzkrieg the german juggernaut. Whats the minor leaguef wrestling in a junior match in quakeer pennsylvania. He comes in, shouts signatuzig and raises his arm in a nazi sa light. Ryan satton, who used to work at tmz and presumably knows a goodstogood story, waved the flag and said this video watch me second. Watching the guy do nazi salutes while children cheer him on as a good guy is terrifying. You can guess what happened next. Local School Officials were unaware of the other guy after they launched an investigation, they released a statement saying they were made aware of a video featuring an employee participating in an amateur wrestling event. They acted immediately to conduct an internal investigation. The actions portray in this video do not represent the core values of the school district. Full confession, im a product of the 1970s, a product of my youth was spent watching Pro Wrestling. We watched in our rec room with panelling from kmart all around us that looked at a tv set that only got seven channels. When we watched it, we were watching Pro Wrestling. These were the days when vince mcmann was a geek an there was no in between. You knew you were for one side or the other. My personal favorite was pj strongwell. After wrestling, i could do his dance. There was a long cartoonish for a crowd to boo. Like the sheikh a syrian character that enters the ring wearing a head dress, before matches, he would nail on a prayer rug. Maybe the teacher played the role too well for some the post pointed out the issue here may have been more about the audience than the teacher performer. Quote, blitzkrieg appeared to elicit more cheers from the crowd than his opponent one man could be seen extending his arm in a nazi salute. A young boy held up a sign blitz reeg rules. Another that translated means blitzkrieg, ruler of all people. He entered the wing and trups of usa and trumps america fill the room some is that the real issue here . Let us not forget in an earlier life, the president made a famous cameo in Pro Wrestling as well, is kevin bean a part of the crowd turning a villain into a hero . When a teacher Wouldnt Lights as a Nazi Sympathizer is unfit to teach . Twothirds said hes fine to have both jobs. Absent evidence the Teacher Harbors and act on such appalling views. Let me be clear, there is none of that evidence here, he ought to keep his job and young minds should continue to boo his character. Still to come, your best and worst tweets and facebook comments, like this one from twitter. Hed be best served moving on. He shouldnt lose his gig for it. I hope you answered the Survey Question at smerconish. Com. Im about to give you the answer. Paying too much for insurance you dont even understand . Well, esurance makes it simple and affordable. In fact, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of 412. Thats auto and Home Insurance for the modern world. Esurance. An allstate company. Click or call. Terms of truth and accuracy. I guess a reflection of the fact that carter page testified without a lawyer and full transcript was made public with very minor redactions. What else came in during the course of the program this hour . What have we got . Let the president do his job. He got full credit for the economy. We brought on a spokesman and i posed Critique Questions to him, thats acknowledged, but im not going to ignore whats going on relative to mueller and Southern District probes. Wouldnt be doing my job if i did that. What else do we have. Smerconish, what if the Trump Tower Meeting was innocent. Did the lies start immediately after it was revealed . Did the lies start immediately after it was revealed. Sarah, i dont know. I wanted to add a nuance to the Black And White analysis i was hearing this week as to whether Michael Cohen knew that President Trump was in the loop, that he was president when President Trump was told of the upcoming meeting in trump tower with russian nationals. It did happen or didnt happen. My hunch is that it is more in a gray area, right . It stands to reason there was plenty of conversation about the fact that both sides wanted dirt on the other. Maybe in the end, Michael Cohens story will be that he believes the president was probably in the loop on that one meeting because he had been present for other conversations about collecting political dirt generally. And why do i say that . I say that because that would preserve the honesty of testimony that he offered twice before congress. Then it could all line up. Right . That he cant say well, it was that meeting but there was general discussion. Again, catch up with me anytime at cnn go and on demand. See you next week. 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