Trayvon transcripts: Witness says Trayvon on top, Zimmerman's first words: "I shot this guy in self defense"

One of the first witnesses to call 911 indicated that the melee between Zimmerman and Trayvon moved through the complex.

“You could tell it was farther away from where it ended up in the grass area behind our townhomes right here,” the witness said. “It seemed like it was a lot farther away, ‘cause as time went on, it got closer. And you could really tell: Oh, I think that’s someone actually yelling Help! this time.”

He said he saw the two “wrestling.” And like other witnesses, he said it sounded like a dogfight – an indication of a savage squabble.

“I knew it was serious,” the witness said. “That’s when I said stop…. And they were still wrestling.”

As the man ducked inside his home to call 911, he said, it appeared Trayvon was on top of Zimmerman.

Then he heard the noise.

“It sounded like a rock hit a window,” he said. “I’ve never heard a gunshot before.”

Describing Trayvon, the witness said “the person that was actually on top at that point was laying in my grass kind of in a sprawled position – not moving. And then I saw another person with his hands in the air.”

That was Zimmerman. His first words, apparently, as neighbors started shining their flash lights: “The gun’s on the ground. I shot this guy in self defense.”

The witness was shaken up. “I think I stated ‘Holy shit, or something like that, I think he’s dead because he wasn’t moving. I was shaken up and everything….I’m pretty sure they flipped the body over to do CPR.”

When he looked outside his apartment again, he say “a yellow sheet or blanket” draped on Travon.

“After that,” he said, “it was pretty much giving statements the rest of the night, talking with my neighbors next door.”

Trayvon transcripts: Witness to 'howling' says Zimmerman might've been on top of Martin

Assistant state attorney Bernie De La Rionda interviews an unnamed witness to the shooting.

Q: Did you hear something going on?
Yes
…
Q: How would you describe what was going on outside?

A: “First we heard like a howling sound. And then the second time we heard a more-clearly ‘help’ sound.”

Q: “Could you say who was saying help or not?

“I couldn’t…..At first I couldn’t see anything. It was dark. The second time I looked -- I looked so many times outside I don’t know which one was which…. What I remember is, it was too dark. And then a guy was on top of another guy -- and the shot.”….

Q: Could you see the faces?

A: “It was too dark.”

Q: Could you describe the clothing?

A: “It was too dark.”

Q: How would you describe their physiques?

A: “I know after seeing the TV of what’s happening – comparing their pictures – I think Zimmerman is definitely on top because of his size.”

Q: Do you think Zimmerman is bigger?

A: “Yes.”

Q: Define bigger

“Compared to Martin.”

The Trayvon transcripts: Witness describes Zimmerman's attitude: "‘Just tell my wife I shot somebody.’ Like it was nothing.”

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent interviewed one of the first people to witness George Zimmerman after he shot Trayvon Martin. A partial transcript of the interview with the witness. He at home Feb. 26, fixing a coffee table in his front room when he and his wife heard the scuffle.

“We heard voices outside,” he said. “At first it sounded like dogs.”

Moments later, when he told his wife to get away from the window, they heard what he called “either a loud grunt -- it sounded like a gunshot, too.”

He came outside with his cellphone and flashlight, which he shined on Zimmerman. He said it had sounded as if Zimmerman were on the phone.

I think he was on the phone because it sounded like he was on the phone….

“Why don’t you call 911?” the man says he asked Zimmerman.

“No, I just got off the phone with them,” Zimmeran reportedly told him. “Am I bleeding?”

The man looked and saw Zimmerman had blood on his face: “Yeah, you’re bleeding.”

Zimmerman squatted down and, the witness said, he could see “blood on the back of his head, grass stains. And by that time I flashed my light down. And there was this kid face down in the grass. By that time, the police showed up. And one officer went ahead and handcuffed him.”

“Can you please call my wife,” Zimmerman reportedly asked him. “Let her know what happened.”

The witness complied, called Mrs. Zimmerman and said: “Your husband’s been involved in a shooting. And he’s going to be held for questioning. He’s been handcuffed.

Zimmerman apparently chimed in.

“Just tell her I shot somebody,” the witness said Zimmerman told him.

Miami Beach commissioner now says he won't run for Richard Steinberg's Florida House seat -- but another city commissioner will

The resignation of Miami Beach’s city manager has led to a game of musical chairs at City Hall and allegations of backroom deals from the city’s mayor.

On Wednesday, one week after City Manager Jorge Gonzalez submitted a July 8 resignation date, Beach Commissioner Jonah Wolfson announced he would not run for the state House District 113 seat he began campaigning for months ago.

Commissioner Deede Weithorn said she would run in his place for the seat, which became vacant in February Rep. Richard Steinberg resigned after he admitted he sent inappropriate text messages to a female federal prosecutor.

The two commissioners say the swap was unplanned.

“This is clearly something I have always been interested in doing,” Weithorn told The Herald.

Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower says the move smells of vote-trading. She questioned whether Weithorn and Wolfson, both of whom pushed for a swift Gonzalez departure at the city’s May 9th commission meeting, planned the timing of Gonzalez’s ouster and their switch in the race for District 113.

More from David Smiley here.

Marco Rubio: Obama has "political reasons" for gay marriage stance

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will be on FOX Business Network’s Cavuto at 6 p.m. today. They cover quite a bit of ground, including the 2012 Presidential race and what the show describes as "the economic issues facing United States business owners and citizens." Rubio also addresses gay marriage in an economic context. Here's a couple of excerpts:

On whether he is a potential running mate for presidential candidate Mitt Romney: "I've said repeatedly I’m not going to discuss the vice presidential selection process. I’m not going to discuss it in any way. Mitt Romney has a long history of making good decisions in his personal life, in his business life, in his political life. So, I have no doubt he’s going to make a great selection as his running mate. And I’m confident of that, and I’m curious to see who it’s going to be, like everyone is. I'll tell you what I think this country needs. And that is someone who is going to make things better than they've been in the last three and a half years. If that's what this election is about -- and that's what this election should be about -- Mitt Romney is going to be our next president.  Because there's no way Barack Obama, with a straight face, can come before the American people and argue that somehow, he has made things better than they were when he got here as President of the United States."

On President Obama’s position on gay marriage: "He did it for political reasons because he doesn't want to talk about the economy. What I just pointed to you a moment ago, are you better off today than you were four years ago. He doesn't want that to be what this election is about. And so it's not just on gay marriage, I think every week he'll roll out another issue to distract from it. I think they've actually admitted that it was politically calculated, because they said they were going to make this decision anyway, they just want to do it closer to the convention. He admitted that he was going to announce this anyway, he just wanted it to be around the convention, he wanted it to be even more dramatic. So of course this was all about politics."

 On his opinion on the issue of gay marriage: "I do believe that marriage is an institution where there's a union between one man and woman, and that's my personal belief. I think people of good faith can disagree with me, and in many states, they've made a different decision than that. Ultimately, marriage has always been regulated by states, so I think that's where it remains and where it should remain."

Ed Secy Duncan says legislators steered money to questionable tutoring programs

U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan came down hard on the Florida Legislature for using federal No Child Left Behind funds to steer money to questionable tutoring programs throughout the state.

Florida lawmakers passed a law that requires school districts to spend 15 percent of their Title I funds -- intended for low income students -- on tutoring programs for students without determining whether the programs work.

Speaking to the Florida Council of 100, a business advocacy group, at the organizatipn's quarterly meeting in Washington, D.C., Duncan said this practice has spawned a cottage industry of tutoring companies despite research that shows mandated tutoring has no impact on student performance.

"There has never been accountability for results," Duncan said. "Districts don't know if individual companies are actually having an impact on student achievement."

Marco Rubio calls decision to grant Raul Castro's daughter a U.S. visa 'outrageous'

Sen. Marco Rubio has put up a YouTube video criticizing the U.S. government for granting a visa to Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela, to attend a conference in San Francisco.

In the video, Rubio, a Florida Republican, called Mariela Castro "an arm of his regime" and said the decision was "outrageous" and "an enormous mistake."

"Not only that, it sends a terrible message to the democratic movement in Cuba, to those brave people in Cuba who every single day resist and speak out against the tyranny of the Castro brothers," Rubio said.

Rubio joins the chorus of Cuban-Americans in Congress, including Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, slamming the decision.

Read Rubio's statement after the jump.

Citizens Insurance bashes "hyperventilating" media over coverage of 'uncapped rate' plan

“Explosive,” “inaccurate,” “exaggerated” and “hyperventilating” were some of the invectives hurled at the media by board members of Citizens Property Insurance on Thursday.

The collective media-bashing took place during a committee meeting Thursday when Citizens discussed a plan to remove a 10-percent cap on rate increases for new customers, potentially costing homeowners thousands of dollars.

As Citizens presses forward with an ambitious, unprecedented plan to enact a flurry of policy changes that will affect hundreds of thousands of Floridians, it’s not happy with the type of media attention that plan has garnered.

In the past, media attention to the state-run insurer has focused on the Legislature, because state elected officials traditionally have taken on the role of deciding things like creating “glide paths,” or “caps” on rate increases.

Now, as Citizens has decided to operate more independently from the Legislature, the media spotlight, naturally, is turning to the 8-member unelected board responsible for the multi-billion-dollar policy changes.