TRANSCRIPT & VIDEO: George Zimmerman Says Trayvon Was 'Going to Kill Me'; It Was 'All God's Plan'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," July 18, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And tonight in an interview that you will only see right here on "Hannity," George Zimmerman, the man charged with second degree murder of Trayvon Martin, breaks his silence.

Now, earlier today I traveled to Seminole County, Florida, where Zimmerman is currently free on bail and awaiting trial. And for the first time, both he and his attorney Mark O'Mara, they discuss what happened the night of that tragic shooting, the aftermath, and what lies ahead for them. In this exclusive interview, they go through the events of that night, and they straighten out the record about Internet rumors involving me, and George delivers a message to the Martin family and to you, the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: A lot of time has passed since this incident with Trayvon. How do you feel about it now that you have had some time to reflect on what has happened?

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: I haven't really had the time to reflect on it. When I was in jail, obviously I was in solitary confinement and I had a lot of time to think and reflect. I just think it's a tragic situation, and I hope it's the most difficult thing I'll ever go through in my life. But --

HANNITY: Let's go back to the night of the shooting. Take us back to that night. You were going to the store.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

HANNITY: Let's start at the beginning.

ZIMMERMAN: I was going to Target to do my weekly grocery shopping. Sunday nights was the only nights -- well, Sunday after we mentored the kids, we would always go grocery shopping and do our cooking for the week. So I wanted to go to Target and I headed out. And that's the last time I've been home.

HANNITY: Since then. You never went back since that day.

ZIMMERMAN: No.

HANNITY: We all have heard the 911 call. On that 911 call, you had mentioned that there had been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: Why were you a community watch person? How long were you involved in that and why did you become a community watch person?

ZIMMERMAN: In August of 2011, there was a home invasion. A young lady was home with her nine-month-old baby, and they broke into her sliding glass door. She barricaded herself in the upstairs bedroom. And my wife was home by herself, and she saw the people that burglarized her run through our backyard with their belongings. And even though my wife wasn't certain what happened, that was enough to scare her and shake her up. And I promised her I would do what I could to keep her safe.

HANNITY: Now, your gun was legal. You had a legal weapon in the state of Florida.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: Why did you feel the need to carry a gun? A lot of people maybe have a weapon inside their home, but you decided to carry yours. Why did you think it was necessary to have a weapon with you? And did you carry it at all times?

ZIMMERMAN: I carried it at all times except for when I went to work.

HANNITY: A lot of this case legally -- and we are going to get to Mark in a few minutes here and ask him about a lot of legal aspects, because there are so many of them in this case -- has to do with stand your ground. You have heard a lot about it. And I was just curious, prior to this night, this incident, had you even heard stand your ground?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: You have never heard about it before?

ZIMMERMAN: No.

HANNITY: Well. Now, on -- it was very interesting, in the 911 call that everybody has heard, you said that all of a sudden you found somebody who looked suspicious, he may be on drugs. That was one of the earlier comments that you made in that 911 call. What made you think he was suspicious, and what made you think that he might be on drugs?

ZIMMERMAN: I felt he was suspicious because it was raining. He was in-between houses, cutting in-between houses, and he was walking very leisurely for the weather. I -- it didn't look like he was a resident that went to check their mail and got caught in the rain and was hurrying back home. He didn't look like a fitness fanatic that would train in the rain. He just seemed like --

HANNITY: Weren't there overhangs, though? Was he -- he was walking, he wasn't standing still? And he was walking closer to the house, which is back from the sidewalk?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: Am I understanding that right?

ZIMMERMAN: The overhangs are just in front of the front doors.

HANNITY: Yes. You said he started from almost the beginning in that 911 call, you said he came towards you, and he seemed to reach for something in his waistband. Did you think that was a gun?

ZIMMERMAN: I thought he was just trying to intimidate me.

HANNITY: To make you think that there is a gun?

ZIMMERMAN: A weapon.

HANNITY: Of some kind?

ZIMMERMAN: Possibly.

HANNITY: You said in that tape something's wrong with him, he's checking me out. I don't know what his deal was. So it's almost from the very beginning you felt -- are you saying on that 911 tape that you felt threatened at that moment when you said that to the dispatch?

ZIMMERMAN: No, not particularly.

HANNITY: Then what did you mean, I don't know what his deal is, he's checking me out?

ZIMMERMAN: The way he was coming back. And I was on the phone, but I was certain I could see him saying something to me. And his demeanor, his body language, was confrontational.

HANNITY: It was a controversy from early on, George, where there was some in the media that, quote, hired expert voice analysts, and I'm certain that works, and then they ended up having to recant and rescind their analysis, where they said these, quote, expletives, get away with this all the time. Do you remember what it was that you said specifically on the tape?

ZIMMERMAN: Punks.

HANNITY: Punks. It was not a racial epithet of any type?

ZIMMERMAN: No. And I can tell you that when the police played it for me in the station, it was clear as day.

HANNITY: Yeah. You said -- then we get to the issue where you said to -- on the 911 call that he's running. You said that to the dispatch. Is there any chance in retrospect as you look back on that night and what happened, and the nation obviously is paying a lot of attention to this--

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: -- trying to maybe get into the mind-set, because we also have learned that Trayvon was speaking with his girlfriend supposedly at the time -- that maybe he was afraid of you, didn't know who you were?

ZIMMERMAN: No.

HANNITY: You don't think -- why do you think that he was running then?

ZIMMERMAN: Maybe I said running, but he was more --

HANNITY: You said he's running.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes. He was like skipping, going away quickly. But he wasn't running out of fear.

HANNITY: You could tell the difference?

ZIMMERMAN: He wasn't running.

HANNITY: So he wasn't actually running?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: OK. Because that's what you said to the dispatcher, that you thought he was running.

Let me ask you this. At that point, we can hear the unbuckling of the seatbelt, hear you opening the car door, and this dispatch asked you at that point, and this became a very key moment that everyone in the media focused on, and the dispatcher asked you, "are you following him?" And you said yes. Explain that.

ZIMMERMAN: I meant that I was going in the same direction as him, to keep an eye on him so that I could tell the police where he was going. I didn't mean that I was actually pursuing him.

HANNITY: So this moment where someone suggested you were out of breath on that tape, you yourself were not running?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: And you I think made a statement to the police that it was the wind as you were getting out of the car and moving, and that was the sound we hear, not you out of breath?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: And coming up, just what happened during that fateful missing minute just before the shooting. George Zimmerman, he will tell us coming up next. Plus, he has a message to the Martin family and to the American people. That and much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." We continue now with more of my exclusive interview with George Zimmerman and his attorney, Mark O'Mara.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: What did you do from that moment forward? Because this is where we get into this minute gap in this case, you know, and what did you do from that minute forward when the dispatch said "we don't need you to follow him?" What did you do next?

ZIMMERMAN: I walked across the sidewalk on to my street, Retreat View Circle, where I thought I would meet a police officer that I had called.

HANNITY: So you did not continue to follow him at that point?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir. No, sir.

HANNITY: All right. So you continue from there, you sounded at that moment on the tape, though, a little bit distracted. What was the distraction? Were you looking for him, or?

ZIMMERMAN: I wanted to make sure that -- I believe they asked me for my address, and I wanted to be sure that nobody was lingering and could hear my address and then come back. And I was making sure that there wasn't anybody that was going to surprise me, and just trying to give them an accurate location.

HANNITY: Because they said, you know, can we meet you here at a certain location, and you said have them call me.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

HANNITY: Why did you want them at that point to call you?

ZIMMERMAN: I hadn't given them a correct address. I gave them a -- the clubhouse vicinity. However, I was walking through to my street, Retreat View Circle, and I was going to give them the actual street number and name.

HANNITY: How long was it, George, after that, that you saw Trayvon again? Because you said you stopped, that you did not continue pursuing him. When did you next see Trayvon Martin?

ZIMMERMAN: Less than 30 seconds.

HANNITY: OK. Where were you? Where exactly were you at that point, and how far away were you from your car at that moment?

ZIMMERMAN: I'd guess about 100 feet or more.

HANNITY: So you never went further than how far approximately from your car?

ZIMMERMAN: I would estimate it to be approximately 100 feet.

HANNITY: So you never went further than that from the car?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: OK. And so at that point, Trayvon is -- all of a sudden you turned around and there he was?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: What happened next?

ZIMMERMAN: He asked me what my problem was.

HANNITY: Expletive problem?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. And I was wearing a rain jacket, and I had put my cell phone in my jacket pocket, as opposed to my jeans pocket where I normally keep it. And I immediately went to grab my phone to this time call 911 instead of a non-emergency, and when I reached into my pants pocket -- because that's where I keep it out of habit -- it wasn't there, and I was shocked. I looked up and he punched me and broke my nose.

HANNITY: One shot?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: One shot?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

HANNITY: So he said to you, you have expletive, you have a problem. Those are the exact words used. You remember it?

ZIMMERMAN: "Do you have a problem? What's your problem?"

HANNITY: What's your problem.

And you said to him, "I don't have a problem."

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: You reached for your phone?

ZIMMERMAN: I reached for it as I was saying, "No, I don't have a problem."

HANNITY: And at that point you just got hit?

ZIMMERMAN: He was already within arm's length from me.

HANNITY: And was that the punch in the nose that broke your nose?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: Right there, and you went immediately down to the ground?

ZIMMERMAN: I don't remember if I went immediately to the ground or if he pushed me to the ground but I ended up on the ground.

HANNITY: What do you remember happened from there? Because there were police reports and descriptions that you gave, and that you were a little bit dazed, obviously. And at one point, you said that you wanted him -- you wanted to get -- stop him from hitting your head on the cement.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: Is that what you told the police?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: OK. So after that first hit, what happened next?

ZIMMERMAN: He started bashing my head into the concrete sidewalk. I was -- as soon as he broke my nose, I was -- I started yelling for help. So, I was disoriented. And he started slamming my head into the concrete.

HANNITY: Which is where the lacerations came from?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: You said it was like your head was going to explode was a comment that you had given to the police.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. He continued to punch me in the head.

HANNITY: How many times would you estimate that he punched you?

ZIMMERMAN: Several. More than a dozen.

HANNITY: And hitting you hard.

At what moment did you -- because you said you feared for your life. At what moment do you remember when you literally -- do you remember when you thought, "I may die"? Is that -- because you said that you felt -- you feared for your life. Do you remember the exact moment when you felt that?

ZIMMERMAN: In hindsight, I would say when he was slamming my head into the concrete, and I thought I would lose consciousness. I didn't know what would happen at that point.

HANNITY: And how close is the concrete to the grass? Because a big issue is also the grass stains that you had on your clothes. And you made a statement to the police you wanted to get to the grass. Was that to prevent your head from banging on to the cement again?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: How close was that in proximity?

ZIMMERMAN: It butts up into the concrete.

HANNITY: And were you able to get to the grass?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: And how did you do that?

ZIMMERMAN: I guess you could say shimmy. He was straddled on me with his full weight, and I would try to sit up and push myself down. And whether I would sit up, that's when he would take the opportunity to slam my head back down and punch me in the head and continue to hit my nose.

HANNITY: Was he talking to you a lot during this fight, during this -- when he was beating you? Because you were saying he was beating you and pounding your head into the cement. Was he talking to you during that time?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

HANNITY: And he would say --

ZIMMERMAN: Cursing, telling me to shut up, and then finally telling me he was going to kill me.

HANNITY: And he said those words? And he said it -- when did he first see your gun?

ZIMMERMAN: After we were on the ground, I shimmied with him on top of me, and it made my jacket rise up. He, being on top of me, saw it on my right side.

HANNITY: What happened after that?

ZIMMERMAN: I felt him take -- he had -- after he couldn't hit my head on the concrete anymore, he started to try to suffocate me. And I continued to take -- push his hands off of my mouth and my nose, particularly because it was excruciating having a broken nose and him putting his weight on it.

And that's the point in time when he started telling me to shut up, shut up, shut up.

HANNITY: Why did he tell you to shut up?

ZIMMERMAN: I don't know.

HANNITY: We hear the screams on the one recording from a neighbor that was calling the police. And there's been some dispute whose voice that is. Was that your voice screaming or was that Trayvon Martin's screaming?

ZIMMERMAN: That was my voice. Absolutely.

HANNITY: That was your voice?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: And the police said they heard at one point 14 screams, you were screaming that loud?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: And you said to the police at one point that he put his hand over your mouth. Do you think that was to silence you from screaming?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. I believe he -- from what the investigators told me, he knew that I was talking to the police. And I was yelling so that -- I believed that the police officer was there and they just couldn't me. So, I was yelling in the hopes that they were in the vicinity and they would come when they heard me yelling.

HANNITY: Do you remember when you yourself reached for your weapon? Do you remember that moment.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: Tell us about that.

ZIMMERMAN: At that point, I realized that it wasn't my gun, it wasn't his gun, it was the gun.

HANNITY: Did he say anything? Because you said he was talking a lot about the gun. Did he say he noticed the gun?

ZIMMERMAN: He said, "You are going to die tonight (EXPLETIVE DELETED)" and took one hand off of my mouth and I felt it going down my chest towards my belt and my holster, and that's when I -- I didn't have anymore time.

HANNITY: Do you think you acted more out of a conscious thought? I mean, I know these events happen very quickly. Do you remember conscientiously thinking I have to grab my gun or did you just do it? Was there a conscious thought that went through your head that you thought you were going to die and that you had to take this -- you had to get your weapon and fire?

ZIMMERMAN: I'd love to give you an answer.

HANNITY: You don't know?

ZIMMERMAN: It just happened so quickly.

HANNITY: Now, there was an eyewitness that was out from the very beginning that, in fact, did tell the police the night of the shooting that he saw Trayvon on top of you and did see the beating. There is no witness to the actual shooting itself, right? Correct.

ZIMMERMAN: Besides myself.

HANNITY: Besides yourself?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: And much more coming up. Does George Zimmerman regret getting out of the car to follow Trayvon Martin? Does he regret carrying his gun? That and his message to the American people and to the Trayvon Martin family -- straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity."

And here's more of my exclusive interview with George Zimmerman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: What do you want to say to people that did rush to judgment, that suggested that there was racial profiling in this case, and that there was some other motivation in this case?

ZIMMERMAN: That I'm not a racist and I'm not a murderer.

HANNITY: When you think back, there was one report or police report that actually said you didn't know after you fired, you didn't think -- you thought you missed?

ZIMMERMAN: I didn't think I hit him, yes.

HANNITY: Yes.

So what happened immediately after the shooting, then, George? I understand one guy came out and he said he had a flash light, that he spoke to you, and you said to call your wife, tell her what happened, "that I shot somebody." Do you remember that conversation?

ZIMMERMAN: The conversation I had with the gentleman or --

HANNITY: Yes.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

HANNITY: You do remember that conversation?

And he did talk about it, and his suggestion was -- that you were very matter of fact about it. Do you remember what you said to him? Do you think you were in a state of shock? Did you know that Trayvon -- when did you know that Trayvon had died?

ZIMMERMAN: When I -- probably about an hour after I got to the police station.

HANNITY: After the shooting did you -- and you saw that he was laying there, and obviously injured, there was a moment when you realized he was shot?

ZIMMERMAN: Like I said, he sat up and he said something to the effect of "you got it" or "you got me". I assumed he meant, OK, you got the gun, I didn't get it. I'm not going to fight anymore. At which point I got out from under him.

HANNITY: Is there anything you regret? Do you regret getting out of the car to follow Trayvon that night?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: Do you regret that you had a gun that night?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: Do you feel you wouldn't be here for this interview if you didn't have that gun?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.

HANNITY: You feel you would not be here?

ZIMMERMAN: I feel it was all God's plan and for me to second guess it or judge it --

HANNITY: Is there anything you might do differently in retrospect now that the time has passed a little bit?

ZIMMERMAN: No, sir.