This part, and partly because of the sheer exhaustion of a traumatized community. And partly the sense that the wheels of justice are in moment. There were major developments today. The grand jury began to hear evidence for the first time today. Attorney general eric holder came to town to meet with fbi agents pursuing a federal civil rights investigation, which included conducting a third autopsy and canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses to his death. Holder met with local leaders and students who shared their experience with dealing with the police. We told him some people were targeted, people of low income were targeted. He told a story about when he was growing up, he was pulled over by a new jersey state trooper. He told a story how he they told him to get out of his car, they searched his car. Holder and Justice Department officials are weighing whether to open a broader civil rights investigation into policing practices in ferguson. At a lunch stop, holder met the man who in many ways has become the face of officialdom. Captain ron johnson, charged with overseeing security. We had the Community Came out, activists, the elders of this community. After a briefing from fbi investigators and a meeting with elected officials, holder had an emotional meeting with Michael Browns family. His trip to ferguson was intended to reassure the community there will be justice for mike brown delivered, possibly by an entity they can trust. The reason why his visit was so important is because of the chasm of distrust between the community and the st. Louis county prosecutor. That investigation is now the subject of a political roar between mcculloch and the governor, which the prosecutor is practically daring the governor to take him out of the case. The governor has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor and mcculloch said he wont step aside unless ordered to do so. Last night, the governor said he wouldnt ask him to recuse himself, but there is a well established process by which a prosecutor can recuse himself from a pending investigation. In other words, each is saying no, you go first. Mcculloch tore into the governor on the governor. Unfortunately, if its nixonian double speak as usual. He undermines everything except the cover that hes drafted or pulled over his head. Thats his sole purpose in this. Stand up, you know, man up, stand up and say, i have this i have this authority. I am not removing mccullough, i am removing mccullough, lets get on with this. He cited one of his most vocal critics, who was standing with me last night calling for his removal from the case on this show. I caught a bit of the senators statement and shes right on the money saying, hes ducking the issue. He doesnt want to answer a question. Amid all the controversy, holder told reporters he hoped the work being done in the federal investigation would help cool the heated temperatures in ferguson. The hope also is through the trip im making out here today and by stressing the importance of and the way in which this investigation is going, that hopefully will have a calming influence on the area. People know that a federal, thorough investigation is being done, being manned by these very capable people. My hope is that will have give people some real confidence that the appropriate things are being done by their federal government. Joining me now is a reporter for usa today. So what changed today, what didnt change today . I think what changed today is people really feel that the federal government has stepped in. Not just on a broad basis and a vague idea, but the idea that the attorney general, eric holder, is here in their community. Its a big deal for people here. They say he could have just stayed in washington and talked ant it, but people say now we trust that this process is going to be fair and balanced and people are going to think the federal government is going to come in and look at this from a perspective that the locals cant do. Do you feel that same sense of exhaustion among people here, people are angry and frustrated. We see fewer people on the streets tonight. Part of that is police have managed to keep people away, but theres also it seems to me and i wonder if you agree, that people are just spent. People are really exhausted. In some ways people are Walking Around in a milelong circle. But i talked to a girl today who said im not tired, because i saw Michael Browns body laying on the ground. Thats going to be the reason i keep protesting. She had a little baby and he said i gave her to my grandmother because i saw him laying there for hours and hours and i cant stop protesting until i see somebody indicted for that. That trauma and pain means theyre going to continue to protest. The trauma is very real. Im not sure necessarily of all of us in the media have done a good job of showing people that, because its hard to kind of see. But theres a real trauma to everyone, and person after person talks about seeing that body in the street. I think that body in the street is whats motivating a lot of these people to stay here. Its raining here tonight, its muggy. People are like, it doesnt matter. Im going to continue to chant his name. Theyre like, i saw that body. Hes bleeding on the ground with no sheet. And hes looking like one of us. People are traumatized by that. I think a lot of people are i talked to so many people who burst into tears trying to explain to me why theyre here. People that seen the body and people that came from chicago and new york and florida saying i also know somebody killed by the comes. I saw a man today, a lot of folks today, there was a memorial atmosphere. I saw a guy walking by just sobbing and stopping in the middle of the street, just couldnt move. It just struck me also that there hasnt been a lot of space to grieve for anyone. The funeral is monday and i think well see a lot more of that. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Joining me now, phillip agnew. It feels like theres a step happening, Michael Browns family will be traveling to new york to participate in a march there over the death of eric garner, who died. Do you think theres a moment here that will zoom out into something larger around the way policing happens in this country and criminal justice more broadly . Right. We need to talk about demands right now. I think were in a position to have a conversation with our officials about what we want. We have departments around this country that have killed black men in front of their families, in front of stores and nothing has happened. We want federal investigations. Eric holder is down here now. We want federal investigations into all of those Police Departments. Its happening in miami, its happening in chicago, in l. A. , its happening in new york. And were seeing it. Just in the past month. We want a federal investigation into all of those Police Departments. We want mcculloch off the case, too. Its like having a blind man operate on you. He hasnt convicted a Police Officer for killing a black men ever. We have concrete demands. I think its awesome the family is able to join in solidarity, but its sad it has to be at a funeral. Reverend, i was reading some history. He writes about nixon and law and order and how seminole the watts riots were in the 60s in creating the politics of law and order. To me its this question of when do we turn the corner on those politics if i think we turn the corner only with the level of resistance that we have seen. These young people have done america to a Great Service by engaging in civil disobedience and should be celebrated and not demonized. What we see is a low level, what many commentators talked about as a low level turnout is the result of high levels of police extractions on television, journalists being attacked. These young people come out and they resist. Its worth noting that. People who watch protests, if youve ever been an organizer of a protest, try to get 100 people to show up for something. Its much harder than it looks. Were looking for people who have come out, the vast majority nonviolent, risking tear gas and arrest and exhaustion. And theres no some central email blast going out. Because the experience of these young people has been one of economic depravation and unemployment in ferguson has doubled. The average income is like 1 in 4 people in ferguson lives below the poverty line. The average income is like 36,000 a year, thats a 14,000 difference. So when you look at the ways in which these folks have lived under high levels of oppression, combined with now being occupied. Police have guns at a church last night. They were searching a church last night, which is something reminiscent of the 60s. And nobody is going home. Nobody is going home. Listen, when i was out here yesterday talking to the young boys out here, i asked them one question, what do you want . Unanimously they wanted justice. You arrest this man. You bring him to justice, swift justice, just as you would if i had taken a cigarette from the store and exacted justice in the streets. Arrest this man. And its a very simple demand. But it touches on the fact that we are human. We deserve what anybody deserves when something wrong has been done and to them. And were not going to stand for a police force that thinks that they can quell that by being out here every night. You cant unsee what you saw last week. I think part of whats been important about the story also is, i went to talked to the major today in ferguson. In new york city, i remember in the mayoral race, they were talking about stop and frisk. Part of what makes the politics so tricky is people that are wellmeaning individuals who have no idea what police what it feels like to be policed in certain communities in this country. Thats going away. And this moment theyve seen it. But i think also the way in which we talked about say how things are different now, that things are calm and peaceful now, the reality is that the violence has been so high by the police. This level of violence. This is still violent. This level of violence has been normal for us, and that should scare us all. Thank you gentlemen. Thank you, dear brother. There is some other news to report tonight beside whats going on here in ferguson. We heard some of the strongest language ever used by president obama. What he was talking about, ahead. Evening has fallen here in ferguson, missouri. Theres about 100 protesters chanting no justice, no peace. Who are we here for . Mike brown. There are still people here intent on getting their voices heard. Today i talked to the mayor of ferguson who had some interesting things to say. Well bring you that interview in just a little bit. Stick around. One day of the horrifying video of the execution of james foley, president obama addressed it in some of the strongest language hes ever used as president. Isil has no ideology of any value to human beings. The ideology is bankrupt. They may claim out of expediency that they are at war with the United States or the west, but the fact is, they terrorize their neighbors, and offer them nothing but an endless slavery to their empty vision. The collapse of any definition of civilized behavior. One thing we can agree on, isil has no place in the 20th century. Secretary of state john kerry tweeted, isil must be destroyed, will be crushed. The state department submitted a request for up to 300 additional security members to beef up security in baghdad. The request is under consideration by the pentagon. No decisions have been made. James foley, who had been held captive since 2012, according to isis, will not be the only journalist executed and the video made clear its speaking to the United States. The following is a small portion of that video. This is james foley, an american citizen of your country. Just this amp, the pentagon acknowledged the pentagon attempted a rescue operation to tree hostages held by isis. The mission was not successful, because the hostages were not present at the targeted location. Meanwhile, there were 14 more u. S. Air strikes in the vicinity of the mosul dam today. Joining me now, senior fellow at the center for american progress. Lawrence, this news today about a special forces mission into syria in the midst of what is the most chaotic, darkest civil war probably on the planet right now, to extract hostages, that strikes me as a pretty big deal. Its probably the biggest thing obama has done since going after bin laden. And it shows how concerned he is about human beings. It sends a signal to isis, beware, we can come after your leaders. We got bin laden, you better be careful, as well. Theres now a situation in which you have the Prime Minister David Cameron coming home from vacation because of the voice on that tape clearly seems to be someone from the uk. Weve been getting reports for months now of foreign fighters joining isis. How significant do you think that is . Its very significant, because a lot of them happen to be americans, and basically what will happen is they can go over this, get trained, and maybe come back here or come back to the uk or other european countries. I think thats what obama was trying to say today. This is not a good group thats trying to, you know, help people or reestablish, you know, the way the world was under muhammad. These are barbarians, and they kill more muslims than anybody else. Yeah, the reports out of there, some of the videos they have posted are just unspeakably horrific. Just mass slaughter, attempted genocide. I dont think theres any debate about the just absolute degraded monstrosity of what isis is doing. There is debate about what the u. S. Does about it. Theres a lot of emotion and anger, understandably, after they posted that video. Its so chilling. But what do you see as the Strategic Options from a Strategic Perspective in dealing with isis. Isis did this because they want us to stop the bombing were doing. If anything, it enhanced it. Americans who were on the fence or somewhat ambivalent are going to say no, you have to go after these people because of who they are. I think what youre going to see is many more u. S. Air strikes supporting Kurdish Forces and Iraqi Military forces, for example, they moved from the dam to try and take back tikrit. My guess is youre going to see a lot more american air strikes than we would have had this not happened. To play devils advocate, the Saddam Hussein regime was horrific in its acts as well. They also pursued genocide. So we have learned what going to u. S. War in iraq looked like. Is there a danger were being drawn back into one that wont make the lives of iraqis better or be in american strategic interest . The fact that you have a new government in baghdad gives you hope that the iraqis will do the fighting. Theyre not going to send Ground Troops in there, large Army Divisions or anything. Youre going to have, as well have now, special forces on the ground. But we use american air power. Remember how long we bombed in libya several months. 77 days in kosovo. So american air power, if you get the cooperation of the troops on the ground, can turn this around. Obama did say its up to you people to get rid of these guys. Libya strikes me as a perfect example in the respect that it stopped the assault from gadhafi. He was ultimately killed, but libya is a mess right now. Its the then what question that has a lot of people worried as we watch this kind of gradual, not so gradual escalation. Well, i think youre right. But remember, iraq is a special case. We created this mess by going in and destabilizing the country. So our moral imperative is stronger there. But obama has been very clear in the final analysis, you have to have an inclusive government. If you dont do that, you have to live with the consequences. Theres no way isis is going to go into the kurdish area now. So you have 1 3 of iraq that wont go in there. So its really the sunnis, and by these people acting so barbarically, youll see the sunnis turn against them, particularly if you have a inclusive government. Thats what happened to zarqawi that was leading a predecessor to isis that was unspeakably barbaric, and he ended up alienating everyone. Lawrence, thank you. Thank you for having me. Last night was relatively calm here in ferguson. There was several interactions, one in particular with a Police Officer and protesters that resulted in an officer being suspended today without way. Well show you that interaction caught on camera, next. Last night in ferguson, missouri was a relatively calm night. Le relatively. The first time in days police did not deploy tear gas to disperse protesters. The protests were relatively calm. Not all interactions were all calm. Late last night in ferguson, this scene was caught on camera and posted online. My hands are up. My hands are up. Hands up. [ bleep ] hands up. Youre going to kill him . Whats your name, sir. Your names go [ bleep ] yourself . Following a public outcry from the aclu and others, that officer, who works at the Saint Ann Police Department was suspended, the saint ann police chief said the officer in question raised his gun because he saw a weapon in the crowd. After realizing it was a bb gun, he continued to scan the crowd with his rifle raised. Which he described as standard procedure. When hes trying to protect the public and asking people to back up under no circumstances do i or our department condone his language. Language being the problem there. Not the gun pointing. The chief said he placed the officer on unpaid suspension. Police have killed another man just a few miles from here, where Michael Brown was killed by police. We reported that yesterday. The reaction there has been very different. Both by residents and the police. And what weve seen in ferguson. More on that ahead. Sam dodson, the chief of police in st. Louis, went before the media and announced the release of sell cell phone video of the killing of 25yearold kajiemi powell by two st. Louis Police Officers yesterday. The killing that took place just three miles from where Michael Brown was killed by police in ferguson. He was suspected of shoplifting two Energy Drinks and doughnuts from a convenience store. A 911 reporter reported that he was carrying a knife. The police chief described the video as he saw it to reporters. The suspect continues to say shoot me, kill me now. The Police Officer, you can clearly hear them say, stop, police, drop the knife. The suspect starts toward the front of the car, and goes around toward the passenger side of the vehicle. Approaches the Police Officer that is in the passenger seat, in a threatening manner, and begins to close the distance. Both officers indicate theyre in fear of their life. As the suspect walks toward the officer on the passenger side, you can see the officer take one, one and a half steps backwards. The suspect continues to advance toward him. Both officers fire the weapon. Ive seen the video and it is amazing how quickly the situation escalates and the officers fire their weapons. Msnbc has decided not to show the cell phone video of the killing of kajiemi powell. The tragedy coming on the heels of Michael Browns death illicited anger in the community. They chanted hands up, dont shoot. And many questioned why police didnt use a taser on him instead of killing him. One thing that is clear officials have learned lessons after what happened in ferguson. The mayor of st. Louis orchestrated an impromptu jobs fair at the site of the protest, that resulted in 85 signups, the mayor spoke with powells grandmother to personally offer his condolences. Joining me now is the mayor of st. Louis. Why did you decide to release the video . Well, first, i just want to make sure we as we approach this, were sensitive to the fact that a young man lost his life. And was shot by a Police Officer. Thats something that does impact our community tremendously, as we go forward, wen watt to make sure we do everything in a sensitive way. Sensitive to the fact that a young mans life was lost, and sensitive to the context that this has happened. Particularly on the heels of what is going on in ferguson. We decided to release the video, because there was the person that took it was actually trying to shop this video around, and it did come into our possession, we put it out there, because it was going to get out there any way. We wanted to make sure that the public had the information that we had, we released the 911 audio, we also released the dispatcher tapes as well. We released this particular video, were being very transparent in our approach in handling this, doing it in a sensitive way, i did tell the young mans grandmother we were intending to do this at the time. I notified her and a lot of Community Members about it, certainly any kind of shooting is not something thats really good to look at, but i thought it was necessary under the circumstances. One of the things about the video, you can tell that there is this man is very riled up, yelling shoot me, and the training protocol seems to be obeyed here, i talked to people that do Police Training that say within 21 feet, someone with a knife is a lethal threat, they can close that gap, at the same time, everyone i was talking to on the scene is asking, couldnt you use nonlethal force, was there another way for this to come to a resolution that isnt so unspeakably terrible. Thats certainly a legitimate question, its a question thats going to be asked by a lot of people. Different people can look at the situation certainly after the fact and watching it on video and come to all kinds of conclusions, these officers first of all are trained. Theyre put in a difficult situation, they have to make quick decisions and theyre trained to protect themselves, they have to make a judgment call. And basically what we have now, we have two investigations going now. We have a parallel investigation. A criminal investigation, as well as internal affairs investigation. Those investigations will look at these very, very carefully, certainly get all the evidence, and come to conclusions as to the results. You sent a truck over to the scene of the shooting yesterday, where there were protesters who had gathered to sign people up for a jobs fair or jobs program through the city. What motivated that decision. Are you attempting to learn lessons from whats happening here in ferguson . Well, certainly weve learned a lot from what happened in ferguson, and theres certainly a lot to be learned there. I sent Staff Members out there to get a sense of whats going on in the crowd, talk to some of the people there listen to their concerns. One message that kept coming over and over again by a number of those out there, were out here protesting, we could use a job. We need to be employed. We need to be able to support ourselves and our family. I had my Workforce Development director, his team out there, we signed up at least 85 to 90 people in the programs, it helps them learn how to look for a job, and a Job Training Program as well. What do you think the takeaways are going to be for you as mayor, from your police force from whats happened in ferguson and this event coming right on the heels of it in terms of how you all think about policing, how you train police, how you have engineered a relationship between the community and the police. I think we always have to continue to look at the training component, make sure were doing everything we can to make sure we have the best trained Police Officers we can have, were certainly doing that all the time. I think its a good takeaway here, we have to never lose sight of the fact that when were dealing with the loss of life, several things are important. One is sensitivity. Sensitivity to that fact. Sensitivity to the emotions that are in the community. These are real lives were talking about, these arent just videos, and were not watching tv. And the other thing is communication. You cant underestimate the importance of communication. Accurate communication, prompt communication. Responsible communication so that you can quell any potential spike in emotions as much as possible. Mayor of st. Louis, thank you for your time. Thank you. One of the blocks of ferguson that you have not seen yet, and what is happening there next. theres an unexpected calm thats settled here. So much anger, so much aggression, so much tear gas. Well bring you much more live from the scene ahead. There are at least two fergusons, the one youre seeing on tv the last week and a half, the protests over the shooting and death of mike brown. Theres another ferguson, stately homes and wrap around porches and large lawns. Many of the folks of that ferguson are getting organized today to turn the citys image around. I spoke with mayor james knowles. Hes one of the youngest mayors in st. Louis county. Former president of the st. Louis young republicans. The mayor and i decided to walk down one of the blocks in ferguson you havent seen. We talked about that neighborhood. We also talked about whether in perception and reality, if ferguson was really two towns doing battle with each other. I have to say, this seems like a pretty divided town. Sure. In a few different ways. Race, socioeconomically. I mean, this is a different ferguson than the apartments where mike brown was shot. Sure. I think the one thing i want people to understand is that there are definitely things that make us different, i mean, we definitely have i dont live in any of these homes, i grew up here, first kid in my family, and the extended family to go to college, the only one to get my masters degree. I dont live in these homes, but i have shared values with these people and people who live in the camp hill apartments. Thats really how, even being diverse racially which we clearly are. We have been able to successfully especially over the past couple decades, really live, work and play together and Grow Together and so people have left here. A lot of people left here, but a lot of people stayed here and enjoy that diversity. I have to say, having spent days talking to people, theres a lot of people who feel like it wasnt working for them before, they were living under this constant threat of police harassment. I can stick a microphone in someones face, and they will tell me a story of getting stopped by ferguson police, and it seems like theres a little bit of a gap in perception of the folks who are living in this part of ferguson and that part of ferguson. I think you have to be careful who you talk to out there too. Theres definitely as you and i talked about earlier, ferguson is very small, six square miles. Theres people that may have interactions, they dont necessarily live here. But the people who live here and become part of the community generally have great interactions. The camp hill apartments, one of the things weve struggled with, theres a lot of subsidized housing. People dont stay very long. They come and go. Theres a disconnect over there between some of the people who live in the townhomes, and have lived there a few years, the people who come and go every six months, turn over the different three owners in the past few years, there is definitely a disconnect. Weve been trying to reach out for the past couple years with those people. Were a city thats been in transition. It didnt happen overnight that we became majority africanamerican. But we continue to reach out and be more inclusive, our neighborhood associations are very representative. Is this going to change . Do you feel like what youre seeing is a wakeup call that has to change in the way ferguson works . Clearly we have to make sure we have to find a way to stabilize housing. There is, all across the county, a problem with housing where people only live for a few years, they switch school districts, you know, every year. They move houses every year, every six months, they never really set down roots. We have to find a way to do that. You think thats sort of the thats your takeaway from this . Yes, we have to find a way to stabilize them here in the community and make them part of it. You cant make somebody part of a community if theyre only here for a short period of time. Thats what me and many mayors around here have been talking about, especially since this crisis has begun. We recognize that already. But i think we see that this has helped precipitate that issue. Mayor, thanks a lot. No problem. That stretch of ferguson you just saw, thats about two miles from where im standing now. Im going to talk to someone who knows the history of ferguson, plus trymaine lee who has been doing incredible reporting here on the ground. Thats ahead. General contractor. What is going on, you know, in the Police Department, it will work its way out. It will be taken care of. You have faith in that . Justice is going to be served regardless, whatever i say, whatever anybody say, im just like i said, one of ten supporters in the Police Department. The majority of the officers know me by name. Ive been here for years, where i live at. I like people i talked to people at a coffee shop where friends were organizing, they were handing out tshirts, i heart ferg, i heart ferguson. Joining me to talk about this is jermaine lee and john lee, with assistant superintendent of the Ferguson School district. Let me begin with you mr. Wright, i spent a few hours today with folks who were at this staging center. It was predominantly white. Not exclusively, but predominantly white, people seemed like all of this it landed from mars. They had no idea there was this much anger, this much frustration with police. That any of this was just kind of there beneath the surface. What do you make of that . I think you have most of the people dont know the history of the community. And you have to remember this one was a sundown town. Remember that. You have wounds that have never been allowed to heal. You have a Police Department who keeps arresting, harassing those there, and it keeps those wounds alive. If they never heal, those things are shared from generation to generation. Mr. Wright, would you just explain what a sundown town is . A sundown town is a town where youre not allowed to be around after the sun goes down. Ferguson used to have a road coming out of the black Community Next to us, that was chained off until the 60s, they had a pile of asphalt that was blocking the road, and anyone who went into the town, im told by many residents, you were subject to being locked up and you had no recourse. And so we have a number of areas many times in st. Louis, we have st. Louis voters st. Louis voted in 1916, 2 to 1 to have a segregated community. That was ruled unconstitutional. We went into race restricted covenants that lasted until 1948. After that we had companies frightening whites out of certain neighborhoods into new subdivisions. You have to remember its a money game. The game is to make money, they dont care if youre white or black. How can you chase whites out and make a load of money. Fergusons one of those areas where blacks were shuttled into the southwestern section of the county first. Next to the one of the things it was really important today to talk about folks at this coffee shop, it is a different type of protesters out here, it really felt like two worlds. And one of the things that struck me there, the surrounding areas, they talk about ferguson being in transition, its gotten less white, more africanamerican over time. Surrounding areas are even less white. All the surrounding areas are 85, 95 africanamericans. Some of the folks i was talking about, we stayed. You know, we dont have racial animous. You look at a Community Like this, its a right fit and a sundown town. Its still those lasting messages, and the feelings dont go away. Its about those who arent in a different world, but your neighbors. In missouri there was a law passed that said if youre in a Certain School district, you can go to an accredited school district. Parents came out in mass and they feared drugs and gangs. Normandy is largely black, hope well is 98 black, poor. Hope well is white, middle class. The white children embrace black children. But theres kickback because of all these laws. The real fear of these poor black people, youre going to come to our schools, rape our children and bring drugs and violence. Thats still there based on little else. Were still dealing with that. Mr. Wright, what do you think were going to see . Whats happened over the last 11 days. How is that going to change the politics, the perception, the kind of governance structure, not just here in ferguson, but all around north county . You have to remember race is a money game. As long as people make money off of white fear, the game will keep being played. People need to be educated. No one cares about what color you are, they care about how they can make money off of you. As long as whites run, the game will continue to be played. I think we have to educate ourselves and tell people how to follow the money to clear up the game. People still make money off of the whole thing of chasing whites out of neighborhoods. Theyre chasing them to neighborhoods where theyre Building Brand new homes. Thats how you sell them. Jermaine lee and john wright thank you gentlemen both. That is all in for now, we will be back again live at 11 00 p. M. The Rachel Maddow show starts right now. Officer who shot Michael Brown should be charged with a crime for that shooting. There is still a lot to see in ferguson, and a lot to report from ferguson, and we will have all of that coming up, including multiple live reports from the scene in downtown ferguson starting in just a moment tonight. But before we get to that news from ferguson, today was also a day of angry reaction, and denunciation by the president of the United States,
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