pull my arm up, it's in that same earlier area. the arm is a very mobile part of your body. so it also could have occurred when he was putting his hands up. >> the family's medical examiner say at least two of those bullets exited and re-entered. that's when you see near the neck and chest. >> the wound that hit the forehead right above the right eyebrow actually came out right around the right eye and went back in and then it exited again right here in the jaw line and came out and went back in to the right shoulder. that's from one bullet. this wound right here to the side of the chest is also a possible re-entry wound. which wound on arm that correlates to, we're not sure. >> dr. bodden says the final shot was likely this one, to the top of brown's head. but he cautioned two possible scenarios. one of brown giving up or of brown charging forward at the officer. >> are any of these wounds inconsistent with the witness accounts that michael brown was shot while rushing the police officers? >> they could be consistent with his going forward or going backward. but they're from the front, and if he was shot going forward, he would collapse right away. the problem -- yeah, so it's possible. there are a number of different possibilities. >> today at the white house, president obama and attorney general holder spoke behind closed doors about the situation in ferguson. as we speak, the missouri national guard is rolling in to protect the official command center, leaving law enforcement to protect the streets after confrontations between protesters and police escalated again overnight despite that curfew. we start just outside of st. louis in tiny ferguson, missouri, with nbc's craig melvin. craig, on sunday the churches there were packed for peaceful remembrance, but we know calm unraveled overnight. what's the mood on the ground there now? >> you know, i guess the best way to describe the mood right now at 2:00 in the afternoon, probably anxious. that would be the best way to describe it. i've spent the morning talking to a number of folks who live in ferguson, a number of folks who have participated in those peaceful protests. i've talked to law enforcement as well. they will all tell you that typically this time of day all is fine for most part. it's when the sun begins to go down that of course we've seen the problems arise. the curfew has been lifted, as you indicated. there are not a lot of people that i talked to -- in fact, ten minutes before going on the air, i talked to a state rep who represents a number of folks in the area. she's not optimistic that the curfew is going to have a measurable effect. also, of course, as you reported there, the national guard set to move in. those national guard troops, we're told, according to a press release from the governor's office, their primary responsibility is going to be essentially to guard the perimeter here. this is the command area. that's going to be their primary responsibility, guarding the police officers, guarding the law enforcement officers who are supposed to be patrolling the streets. that's their primary responsibility. their secondary responsibility, as we were told, is going to depend on the events of the evening. so they will be largely dictated by whatever happens when the sun goes down here. the protesters, going back to that just as few moments ago, i spent some time talking to one gentleman, specifically this morning. he lives a block away from where michael brown was shot and killed. and i asked him specifically, what is it going to take for the streets of ferguson to empty? what is it going to take for the protests to stop? take a listen to what he said. >> you know, in my honest opinion, i don't know. hike i say, if that guy get off, st. louis going to burn, man. i'm going to be honest with you. >> what if he's not charged? >> that's what i mean by get off. if you're not charged, have nothing happen to you, they're going to need more than the national guard down here. >> and that's the sentiment that has been echoed by just about everyone i've talked to here in ferguson. they will say that what they want to see is for the officer who shot and killed michael brown, that 18-year-old teenager, the officer who shot and killed him to be punished in some way form or fashion. in fact, the state rep i just referenced, she said if there was some sort of punishment that came down tonight, she's confident that the streets would empty, peace would be restored, calm would rule the day. >> nbc's krig melvin in ferguson. thank you very much for that. just a programming note. the president will be out at 4:00 p.m. today to speak about what's going on in ferguson. right now river front times, the st. louis based paper that's been all over this from the start, they were down with the demonstrators last night. take a look at what they saw. >> do you know that man set out there for four hours? 9-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 15-year-olds watch that boy lay there. that's their image. it's in a mental rolodex. so you wonder why we're angry? >> there's no looting tonight. >> there's no looting. >> there's no fighting tonight. >> there's no fighting. >> all we want to do is protest peacefully. >> this is the police. you must disperse immediately. i repeat, you must disperse immediately or you will be subject to arrest. leave the area. >> back with us today, the managing editor at "the riverfront times." dramatic video from your paper there. i cringe to think about the trauma that is felt by the people of ferguson, living through this incredible situation. >> yeah, i mean, people really want to get on with their lives. a lot of people -- i've talked to some residents who live on block behind that quick trip. they've got kids, lives they'd like to get on with. i think we're hearing more and more that a lot of the people that are out there are not from ferguson, possibly not even from missouri. so there's also a feeling of just, you know, people in their own neighborhood don't feel safe. they don't know who these protesters are. so it's traumatic out there for sure. >> and jessica, captain ron johnson of the missouri highway patrol spoke this morning about the violence from last night. let's take a listen. >> a sunday that started with prayers and messages of unity, peace, and justice, took a very different turn after dark. molotov cocktails were thrown. there were shootings, looting, vandalism, and other acts of violence that clearly appear not to have been spontaneous or premeditated criminal acts designed to damage property, hurt people, and provoke a response. >> so he's saying there that these acts last night seemed like premeditated acts designed to provoke a response. is there a sense there in the community of a divide between those peaceful protesters who just want to lift their voice and express their upset over the situation and those who are looking to exploit a chaotic situation? >> definitely. i would say that, you know, there are a lot of groups entering the area who all have different agendas. i would say sort of the breakdown could be said to be three different groups. there's people who are in the community who are genuinely upset about the situation, about michael brown's killing, who want to see justice. there are people here simply as an anti-establishment, anti-law enforcement faction. then there are people who are just here to, in one way or another, to profit from the situation, whether it's through looting or generally causing a disturban disturbance. those three groups have little in common. out there on the street, it just plays out in a pretty bad, chaotic way. >> and jessica, just this afternoon president obama was briefed by attorney general eric holder about the situation. there's no doubt that people in ferguson are watching this very closely, including michael brown's family, who welcome federal government intervention. what more do they want to come out of washington? >> i think they don't care where it comes from. they just want to see this officer arrested. and they want to see consequences for this killing. i think that they're welcoming all the help they can get in order for there to be an unbiased investigation. i think that there's a lot of mistrust for the local law enforcement here, particularly for the police in ferguson. and so i think any outside help they can get to sort of keep things objective is what they want. >> jessica, there's clearly a type of network activism and organic protest going on as well as we've seen reported some law breaking. what are sort of the hubs of information and the way that people on the ground are learning about some of the fast-moving developments in all this? >> honestly, twitter, following the hash tags, #ferguson, #michaelbrown. things come out quickly on twitter. i've been glued to my phone the entire week. there have been feeds on various kinds of social media. social media was really crackling with this story before a lot of the sort of national news crews came. i think people are continuing to use those channels. >> jessica, thank you very much. more of my thoughts on all of this later in the show. another reminder, at the top of the hour at 4:00 p.m., president obama will speak about all this from the white house. up next, more on the federal response. national guard troops are moving in. the president is meeting with attorney general holder. how did all this get so big so fast? and still ahead, rick perry indicted. what does it really mean? we got to call a lawyer. ari, do you know one? >> i can help. >> "the cycle" is rolling on. it's monday, august 20th. this is bill. his doubleheader day at the park starts with back pain... and a choice. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. peanuts! peanuts! crowd cheers! cycling right now on msnbc, wikileaks founder julian assange spills another big secret. he's ready to come out of hiding. assange in a news conference today announced that he will soon leave the embassy in london where he was granted asylum two years ago. he faced indictment to sweden. he also says he fears eventual extradition to the united states related to his release of classified government documents. back now to ferguson, missouri, where the national guard is now on the grounds. president obama will speak from the white house at the top of the hour after his meeting with attorney general eric holder. let's turn now to criminal defense attorney brian weiss and former nypd deputy chief edmond heart. thank you, both, for being here. ed, i want to start with you. given what we saw last night, everyone is very anxious about how events will play out tonight. the national guard is now on the ground in ferguson. what impact will this have? >> i think that they finally have defined the mission of the national guard, which i think is important. the governor came out with a statement today clearly defining who's in command and what the duties and responsibilities of the national guard are. i think that was lacking yesterday. that should have come out right away. anything i see coming from that area, there's a disjoint or disconnect going on about who's in charge. so i think this clearly defined mission for the national guard will go a long way. >> yeah, and the mission they have to pursue, of course, is going to depend a lot on how the public is reacting to everything that's happening over there, which is of course, a part of this they don't really control. they're only trying to bring order to the streets. let me bring you in, brian. when you look at everything swirling around this officer and we don't know yet but potentially a suspect, do you think the local police department has served this officer's interest well thus far? >> well, i think you need to distinguish between what the interest this police department would have in keeping this officer as far away from the public spectrum as possible and what his lawyers might ultimately think once the defense team is in place. you know, we learned a long time ago, guys, that sunlight is the best disinfect tant. we haven't seen that from the beginning. i believe these folks in ferguson have bungled from the beginning. >> which folks? >> absolutely, the police department and the people who are responsible for trying to craft a narrative of what happened out there last week. and in a situation where they've held back relevant information we would see in most cities, and that which they did opt to release, i thought that video was petty, unnecessary, and ultimately bush league. i think the more transparency that's shown, the better off the public will ultimately feel. >> brian, what do you think is the likelihood this officer will be charged? >> i think it's substantial. whether that ultimately occurs through the grand jury th empanelled in st. louis county or in a federal court. while it appears at first blush this officer acted outside of the scope of what we expect good cops to do -- and remember, that badge is not a license to kill. we are not going to do michael brown or the good folks in ferguson or st. louis county a favor if we are premature and rushing this case through the grand jury process and bringing it to court. believe me, as a defense attorney for the last three decades and a special contract in multiple cases, take the time. the facts are stubborn things. they don't take sides. and once we've amassed those facts, we can get into a tribunal and ultimately make sure the fact-finding process remains fair. >> and i'm interested in your view of how the unrest has been handled there in ferguson. bloomberg is out with an article saying they didn't learn the lessons of past urban riots, and they have a quote from a law professor saying that the armaments, the weaponry, the tone that was set with the citizens when you come in with a shock and awe approach to policing, when you're surrounded by military armaments, the credo is more like command and control than serve and protect. do you agree with that assessment? have they learned from the lessons from history from the proper ways to handle these situations? >> i harken back to my days in the nypd. early on, basically, we would be told hats and bats, which meant helmet and a night stick. through a bunch of cops with no strategy or focus into a problem and hope for the best. we learned from that over years. nypd became the vanguard of how to handle disorder and how to properly handle disorder with minimal injuries, with minimal problems. i didn't see that early on with the situation in ferguson. there seems to be a lot of disconnect, a lot of disjoint. >> do you think that escalated the situation? >> i do. if i may, not to go into the attorney's area too much, but not releasing the name of the officer, i get it that you have to protect your cop. i get his family might be in jeopardy. if you're going to release a video as they did, that cop's name probably should have been release. he's a public servant. that name should have been released before that video was released. >> we were covering this on friday. releasing that video while saying it has nothing to do with the officer's state of mind in the incident, gave away the game. it was outrageous, and they're going to take heat for it. that said, it may be widespread jury tampering. so we've talked about some of those shortcomings. walk us through the police officer's perspective. so many of these folks are good cops. they're not under investigation. they didn't do anything wrong. they're trying to keep the peace. walk us through the dynamic, if you have the president or national attention and scrutiny as you try to do your job. >> we had it in the nypd several times, sadly. i'm not going to try and convict the officers in ferguson on this, this but we had the -- for example, a horrible incident. none of us believed it was possible. we thought that person had made up that story, flaking that cop, and wrongly accusing that cop. then, of course, the cop admits doing it. that was a horrible, horrible time. that set us back several years in public relations. all the officers got painted with a broad brush. i saw the outrage from the community after that horrible incident. i know what it feels like to be accused of something you had nothing to do with. so i know what it's like as an individual and as a member of that department. it hurts. >> it's an important part of this whole story. edmond and brian, thank you both so much for being with us. and up next, when getting indicted is a good thing. and later, bye-bye eric cantor. the majority leader's official last day. we'll talk to the democrat looking to take his seat. a lot more politics ahead. so fan negatively impact good bacteria? 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[ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. grandpa! could help your business didavoid hours of delaynd test caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. go to comcastbusiness.com/ checkyourspeed if we can't offer faster speeds - or save you money - we'll give you $150. comcast business. built for business. this indictment amounts to nothing more than abuse of power, and i cannot and i will not allow that to happen. i intend to fight against those who would erode our state's constitution and laws purely for political purposes, and i intend to win. >> texas governor rick perry expected to turn himself in today potentially, and he's vehemently fighting a federal indictment against him. we'll hear more from perry's legal team next hour. late friday, the political world was rattled with the announcements a grand jury had indictmented perry for two felony charges, abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant. >> for count one, it's a 5 to 99 years in prison, and for count two, it's two to ten years in prison. i looked at the law. i looked at the facts. and i presented everything possible to the grand jury. >> sounds serious. but unlike most corruption charges, the indictment here does not allege any bribery or kick backs. the charges are actually based on perry's public battle to veto funds for a local prosecutor's office after the prosecutor was arrested for drunk driving. the indictment says by threatening to veto funds unless that prosecutor resigned and then vetoing them, perry crossed into a legal coercion and misusing governor funds. but governors have wide authorities to veto issues and to talk about it. the prosecutors will make a lot more evidence to make this case stick. a welcome to you both. professor, starting with you, why does this indictment look so weak right now. >> well, as you mentioned, unlike many of the other cases, you think of the current mcdonald case in virginia where we're talking about potential bribery. other cases where there's been an abuse of power. we talk about the bridgegate allegations against governor christie. what you have going on here, the only thing that he's alleged to have done wrong is to have threatened to veto and to veto funding for a district attorney's office. he had a basis for doing so, which was that he was trying to remove a controversial district attorney who had been involved in an embarrassing drunk driving accident. so it looks like a kind of political hardball that's being played. there certainly is part san politics to this but does not look like the kind of wrongdoing we usually associate with prosecutions of sitting elected officials. >> professor, ari always says a good prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. >> made that up. >> so we should perhaps take this as a grain of salt? >> you should always take it with a grain of salt. they'll only hear one side of the story. this one is particularly weak. there are two counts in the indictment. you look at one of them, the one about abuse of power or misuse of public funds, doesn't look like on the facts they've alleged that it even fits into the language of the statute. >> he never had the money. he rejected the money, right? >> he didn't have the money, so he didn't have the money to misuse it. and he certainly didn't use it for any personal gain. the other count of coercion, they're both first amendment issues. here's the governor saying publicly what he's going to do as his official act, and it seems to be a problem there painting stopping him from saying that. the other point is, if we're going to start taking these kinds of official actions and criminalizing them, what's that going to do to the way our elected officials govern? >> doug, let's get to the politic of this. i could see this ending up being the perfect example of political backfire. this is not a violent crime. this is not a drug-related crime. many people see this as simply a partisan fight. i was recently down in austin, texas, and spent some quality time with governor perry. i have to say, among the voters there a lot of them view him as a very likable guy, a spiritual guy, an honest guy. even after all he went through in 2012, you have christian conservatives and tea partiers that are willing to give him a second look, if he runs in 2016. look, i'm not saying he's going to be the nominee, but if he handles this right and if he gets through it, it hits right at his brand, which is hitting against government and hitting against democrats, which could ends up empowering him. >> in the short term, the indictment is a blow to governor perry. he's been trying to rehabilitate his image from the disastrous 2012 campaign. but i think you are right. he has one target audience he's focusing in on like a laser beam. that is republican primary voters, conservatives. that's why he did fox news yesterday. he did -- he got out and did a press conference on saturday. you saw "wall street journal," a fairly helpful editorial recently. you have basically the wagon circling around rick perry. he's out there talking about how this is government overreach, how this is a partisan effort by democrats. using all right touch tones. i think that will ultimately help him, but the real issue is one word. that's electability. if this hangs over his head, heading into the next winter or the spring and he's in the campaign and he's competing well, then his opponents are going to make the case he's unelectable because of this indictment and other things. so i do think he -- look, i think this has the potential to strengthen him, but in the long term, i just don't see how someone under an indictment can become president of the united states. >> yeah, i feel soon enough they'll be raising money off this. >> indeed, if they haven't already. and doug, as you're mentioning there, rick perry is not the only republican 2016 hopeful with something hanging over his head. we obviously have bob mcdonne mcdonnell's trial ongoing. we have chris christie. some cloud ethical concerns around scott walker. now rick perry. ari is pointing out the indictments. i think that's as far as we know. is there a bigger problem here for the republican party where voters start to say, what's going on with these folk where is they keep running into these ethical and legal challenges? >> absolutely. look, you have almost by your count half of, you know, the republican field, around half of the republican presidential prospective field under some form of investigation. three years ago republicans were always pointing to their governors as their shining light. now you have chris christie, scott walker, the former virginia governor on trial, and this is not good for the republican brand, especially if they're trying to hold up their governors as a good government example. most of them are -- or some of them who are running for president are now facing these ethical clouds. it's going to be a hard thing for republicans to -- i think it's going to be a tough case for republicans to make that they've got a real strong batch of presidential candidates when you've got, you know, almost half of them facing some serious ethical issues. >> wow. i always heard they had a strong bench, ari. >> i've heard about that bench. doug and richard, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and cycling right now, russian astronauts have just wrapped up a space walk outside the international space station. their task, releasing a tiny satellite, barely two pounds, but it has a big mission. taking photos of earth and sending back measurements of temperatures and other things. sounds like a nasa selfie machine. >> thanks for that report, ari. >> do you have anything to say about that? no? you're just going to giggle? we're live. we don't get to do it over. it's "the cycle" stay with us. in less than 30 minutes, president obama will make a statement on iraq and ferguson. it follows white house meetings on both topics. this morning, the president huddled with his national security council to discuss the deepening crisis in iraq, where a battle rages on for the mosul dam, a strategically vital position. u.s. drones are supporting kurdish fighters in their battle to retake the dam from the islamic state. more than 15 american air strikes were launched today alone. the dam is a major source of electricity for the entire country. nbc's ian williams is following all the developments from the ground in erbil. ian, what's the latest? >> hi, toure. well, there have been claim and counterclaim today. at one point, iraqi government officials saying they had taken back control of the dam from islamic state fighters. but that may be a little bit premature. one u.s. official saying they're not there yet. now, what does seem to have happened, this assault by joint iraqi forces and kurdish forces did now seem to be in control of the core of the dam and much of the surrounding area. but there are strong pockets of resistance. and officials here say they're being slowed down by booby traps, by roadside bombs and mines, which is not only slowing their progress, but in some cases has forced them to retreat. this would only have been possible, this assault on the isis fighters, with the close support of u.s. fire power from the sky. now, today there were 15 strikes taking in a whole range of targets from vehicles to the check points and concentration of fighters. that follows two dozen strikes over the weekend. now, this does seem to have played a critical role in giving protection to the forces as they move in to what is a very strategically important asset, the biggest dam in the country. not only is it supplying a vast amount of electricity and water to northern iraq, but its destruction would be devastating, sending a wave of water down as far as baghdad. now, that's its strategic port, but also militarily. if the iraqis and kurds can push the islamic militants away from the dam, it will be a major achievement for them. it could be a turning point. and it will be the first major setback that isis has faced since they back their rampage across the central part of iraq, toure. >> ian williams, thank you very much for that report. since august 8th, there have been a total of 68 american air strikes in iraq, more than half of them near the mosul dam. no american military personnel have been involved in that ground battle. however, today we got an updated breakdown on the number of american troops in iraq. nearly 850 men and women are now deployed in the country. but the u.s. is no longer going it alone. after initially saying they would help only with humanitarian efforts, today britain's defense minister michael fallon confirmed that british war planes will expand their role in a mission that we all know could last for months. let's bring in shane harris, senior staff writer at "foreign policy" magazine and a fellow at the new america foundation. shane, i have been riveted watching this document tear on vice news, which shows how the islamic state took over and how they're running the areas they control as a state. then the latest part where they show how they control the state and they're inputting sharia law. i want to show a bit they've translated for us, not nbc news, which shows is how they're winning the hearts and minds of the people. let's roll that. >> shane, it's going to be hard to defeat the islamic state when the people there think the islamic state is making life better for them. >> that's absolutely right. this is the challenge the united states has faced really from the beginning here. in 2007, 2008 when we were doing surge in iraq, it was getting the sunni on our side and the sunni awakening that really helped turn tide of the war. now what you see is isis or the islamic state coming in and appealing to these very groups we needed then and we need now to really not only repel isis but to repair the country. so this is the political predicament that the united states finds itself in now. and air strikes are in the going to solve that. >> shane, i happened to be in jordan last week, and i was speaking to the people there about isis and their view. they said there was at least some support for aisis in jorda, some places where there were celebration parties after some of isis' victories there in iraq. how is the islamic state viewed throughout the region by the people? is there support regionally for isis, and how is it viewed by the state actors in the region? >> i think you're seeing pockets of it for sure. the state actors would view it largely as a threat because obviously isis wants to come in and replace their governments. it is the islamic state. they've been extremely effective with the use of social media for gaining a following, for getting their message out. you know, it could be that this is somewhat fleeting response. we'll see. if their numbers are decimated in iraq, there may not be much of a cadre left to put the message out. clearly what you're seeing in iraq is that this is catching on in places. that is part of what makes this so pernicious, this threat on the ground there. and it's just not something that militarily we can address. the best hope at this point would be that we draw most of these fighters in and can destroy more of them, frankly, so there are fewer of them to put the message out. >> we're awaiting remarks from the president at 4:00 p.m., an update on iraq as well as ferguson. the president's previous remarks here told the nation basically we have to act to prevent a genocide. we have to do humanitarian intervention. we'll defend our folks there as needed. as these operations continue even after the president says he broke the siege there, it looks more like now a low-grade military operation. how does the president address the criticism that this now makes the humanitarian part look like a cover? >> yeah, i think you're putting your finger on the problem for him right there. the administration needs to come up with a new justification for this very long engagement, what appears to be perhaps an indefinite military engagement in iraq. the sinjar situation obviously provided a level of political cover for the administration to do this. >> is that how you look at it? >> no, i think the administration felt moved to do something about this, but there's no doubt we've gone from a humanitarian mission to now protecting the dam. the definition of humanitarians is perhaps being stretched here to some degree. but if you look at the statements that central command, which is conducting the strikes, has been putting out in the past several days, they will always include in there, this is being carried out under the mission of helping the iraqi defense forces and security forces repel the islamic state. so there is sort of a third pillar in all of this, right. and that's going to be, i think, the catch all going forward, which really means we are engaged and at war against terrorists. >> i want to jump in there, shane, because there's a real concern out there among the american people. what if isis does strike back in any way? how involved do we actually have to get in this situation? colonel jack jacobs was on alex witt yesterday and said something quite alarming. take a listen. >> sending troops in there will be good tactically, but strategically, the only thing that makes any sense is to go there and stay there. we left precipitously and left an iraqi army not willing to serve the iraqi government, which was weak and corrupt, and so if we want to do something to have a lasting impact, it's going to be something nobody really wants to do. certainly not politically. that's go there in force, get rid of isis, and stay there for a long period of time. >> shane, the only way to control this is going all in. again, what do you make of that? >> i think he's probably correct in the long term. you're really not going to repel this group as a force simply with air strikes. interestingly, already we're seeing the question being asked in afghanistan. should we be reconsidering drawing down our troop levels there so we don't repeat the situation? iraq? if you're going to control isis long term, you're not going to do it simply with air strikes. >> shane harris, thank you very much. coming up, my thoughts on what looks like a war zone here in america in missouri. and eric cantor's last official day as a congressman. we have the man looking to stage another upset, democratic candidate jack trammel joins us live from cantor's home turf. and with the quicksilver card from capital one, you earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase. not just "everything at the hardware store." not "everything, until you hit your cash back limit." quicksilver can earn you unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you could possibly imagine. say it with me -- everything. one more time, everything! and with that in mind... what's in your wallet? caman: thanks, captain obvious. wouldn't stay here tonight. and with that in mind... captain obvious: i'd get a deal for tonight with deals for tonight from hotels.com. and you might want to get that pipe fixed. if energy could come from anything?. or if power could go anywhere? or if light could seek out the dark? what would happen if that happens? anything. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve.. at humana, we believe the gap will close when healthcare gets simpler. when frustration and paperwork decrease. when grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home. so let's do it. let's simplify healthcare. let's close the gap between people and care. cycling right now, an influential former senator has died. he deflected from the republican party to an independent back in 200, shifting the balance of power to democrats. he served in congress for more than 30 years, first in the house for 14 years, and then in the senate. a former aide told the hill that his health had been declining for our while. he was 80 years old. and today marks the end of an era. it is officially house majority leader eric cantor's last day in office. i'm sure we're all very sad about that. you'll recall the republican leader was upset big time by tea party favorite david brat in a june primary shocker. brat is now facing off against democratic candidate jax trammel. that's in a special election november 4th to represent virginia's seventh district. and joining us now is the man himself, jack trammel. all of this has been a bit unexpected for trammel, who decided to run for that house seat in deeply red territory just days before cantor's loss. he's an associate professor at randolph macol college. we should also note we invited is mr. brat to join us. if you're listening, david brat, give us a call. welcome now, jack trammel. >> thank you. >> so lots has been said about eric cantor's loss. was it because of his stance on immigration? was it because he got too arrogant for the district? i'm wondering how you explain eric cantor's loss and if there are lessons that other politicians should take from it? >> well, that's an interesting question. as i travel around the district campaigning, one of the consistent things i hear from both republicans and from democrats is that many of them felt like congressman cantor got out of touch with people in the district. and whether that's the reality or not, people perceive it that way. and perceive it that way and the lesson for people who are candidates and in office, you should never get too far out of touch with the people who voted you into office. >> why do you want to be part of what is often described as the do nothing congress, as a democrat? do you feel if you got elected you would be able to have some sort of impact? >> being a special educator and working in difficult situations in education where i had to bridge gaps, i've built my career around building consensus and bridging the gap between divergent viewpoints. i feel excited about a chance to get into the fray and try to bring consensus and reach across the aisle and work with other people and other ideas. but i also know that the perception about the current congress is that they've really had trouble getting things done. that was part of what motivated me to run. like many people in the seventh district, i'm a voter in the serveth district and frustrated with the way things are going in washington. >> i would say the general perception is they were one of the biggest failures in the history of the house but i know you're running and speaking very responsibly. one of the solutions that dave brat has to that idea, being out of touch is term limits and put up on his website there that he pledges to submit legislation and enforce term limits and stick to a 12-year term limit himself. i want to get your thoughts on this. on the one hand it's annoying because the supreme court has already said you can't have term limits as a federal law, i don't know if he doesn't know that or pretending not to, either way kind of concerning. but he is making a personal pledge to 12 years. would you also make the same pledge? >> i don't know i would. i think elections serve as term limits and primary is an example of term limiting somebody who had gotten out of touch with the district. i personally want to term limit dave this fall and make sure he doesn't get a chance to have to deal with that. >> all right, jack trammel, congratulations on the race and getting involved. we'll be watching it closely. up next, ahead of the president's comments about ferguson, missouri, tour'e looks at the such for justification on both sides of the story. shingles affected me tremendously as a pilot. the pain in my scalp area and down the back of my neck was intense. it would have been virtually impossible in that confined space to move to change radio frequencies. i mean it hurt. i couldn't even get up and drive let alone teach somebody and be responsible in an airplane. as a pilot that meant i was grounded. so ally bank really has no hidden fethat's right. accounts? it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? 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"now" with alex wagner comes up now. in just a few moments, president obama is set to make comments on the killing of michael brown. joining me now is msnbc anchor craig melvin. we heard a press conference from the missouri state highway patrol. can you give a sense of what the national guard presence has done to the on the ground reality in ferguson? >> that's an excellent question. you know, they just had the press conference and didn't take questions and ended the press conference. we want to know how many guard troops are going to be here. we heard their primary mission is going to be limited in scope and essentially it sounds like they are going to be charged with protecting what's referred to as the unified command center so to speak so that then local law enforcement is then freed up to go and essentially patrol the streets of ferguson, the main drag here and neighborhoods as well. one of the things that happened last night is that you had a number of law enforcement resources that ended up being essentially tied up here protecting again the command center and there were not as many boots on the ground so to speak for lack of a better phrase. but there weren't as many folks -- law enforcement officers available to patrol the surrounding areas. we just heard again from the highway patrol that they are going to be commanding -- protecting the command center but what we don't know is how much -- i was told earlier, alex, that should things get out of hand in the neighborhood nearby, should things get out of hand once again on this sort of main drag, that the national guard will be able to respond there as well. i think a lot of what the national guard does tonight of course is going to depend

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