When George Zimmerman's Attorney Walks Out, 'Last Call' Host Lawrence O'Donnell Interviews Chair

The interview must go on, it seems.

In a moment of punditry that broke bizarre, uncomfortable new ground, MSNBC "Last Call" host Lawrence O'Donnell found himself without a headlining he was. He'd prepared to interview Craig Sonner, the attorney representing volunteer Sanford, Fla. neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman as he's come under scrutiny in the Feb. 26 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman has claimed he shot Martin in self-defense that night - under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law, protecting him from prosecution - but skepticism and seeming conflicting evidence has led to an outcry demanding his arrest.

As Sonner has addressed the media, he's maintained that Martin attacked his client. O'Donnell was prepared to confront him concerning multiple alleged contradictions among Sonner's own claims. Sonner clearly had other plans: he arrived at MSNBC's Orlando studios, then turned tail and abandoned the scheduled appearance.

Sure, O'Donnell could've just apologized and swapped his segments on the fly. Apparently, he also realized that he could deliver the 15-minute equivalent to a professional wrestling promo in which he in so many words deemed Sonner a coward who feared hardball questions and claimed that the Sanford police know what truly happened that night and have gone to lengths to cover it up.

Just to ice the cake, O'Donnell then proceeded to "interview" Sonner's empty chair. He fired off his rapid-fire questions one right after another seemingly just to illustrate a point about what fun on which Sonner had skipped out.

"He wasn't going to be let out of here with an easy interview where he was going to be let off the hook with his lawyerly questions. And so Craig Sonner has been the first guest in the history this particular show to get scared, to be terrified, so terrified of coming on this show that the has literally run away, he is in our car right now, taking him home from our studio."

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