>> i am mark halperin. >> "with all due respect," they ain't got nothing like that arch right there. >> on the show tonight, the bipartisan act of steve king's iowa but first, the city of ferguson, missouri, and the country waiting for a grand jury to decide whether officer darren wilson will be indicted in the ferguson police brutality case. governor jay nixon named a commission recommending how to deal with the fallout of the protests here. some african-americans called for a protest nationwide. our the city, state, and country

ready for the outcome, whatever it happens to be? >> i've been very impressed looking at how the community is dealing with it. this is not to deal with the short term but the people there, you read their bios, two cochairs and members of the community, a really impressive group of people and i think they're worried about outsiders coming in and about the unknown. in general between the leadership of the governor local leadership, the city is ready to deal with whatever the grand jury decides. >> i think there is no doubt, as a mentioned in the opening, the national african-american leaders are calling for protests if the indictment does not come in. i respect those people a lot but no one outside that room has seen all of the evidence. no doubt if the indictment does not come through, a large number will feel as though this is a

miscarriage of justice no matter what the evidence says. how that gets handled, how people get to have a voice and do it peacefully, there's a big challenge. i don't know if we are ready for that exactly. it will be a challenge to do this the right way. >> it will be a national component and it all starts here. the dominant race in this, the african-americans and whites they are really concerned about this on the air. they are dealing with the right of people to speak out freely as well as the property rights and individual safety have to be paramount. >> that's the balance you have to strike. you have to allow people who want to protest. that would be a huge mistake. they have to have enough public safety and public order to keep people being able to agitate to end up in a bad place. >> the man at the center of all of this is governor jay nixon. he had a press conference where he signed into law this new commission.

i asked him a two-part question about the days ahead in st. louis. with your message to those in the community who will be unhappy with whatever the grand jury decides? does the buck stop with you in handling this crisis? >> we are saying to everyone is that people should hopefully be peaceful. we are working extremely hard to make sure that there is a broad range of opportunity for people to speak regardless of their positions on these issues saying we feel strongly that those opportunities will be played out than in the next few days and weeks, whatever the timeframe is. as your governor, it always stops with me. >> my question her about the buck stopping with him was based on yesterday's telephone

conference. he did not give a straightforward of an answer. a lot of the follow-up questions came from african-american reporters from different types of news organizations, some quite passionate. they felt he was a balancing too much insecurity and not in terms of individual rights or the right to protest. here's one answer to a pretty emotional question. >> i'm not preparing for war. i'm preparing for peace. order and peace. our goal here is to have peace maintain peace, work as we have over the last 100 days. >> after the press conference ended, i wanted to ask another question about what his feel was for what would happen after the grand jury decision is rendered. do you think that it will go well or are you worried? >> we are preparing and we feel

like the last 100 days have helped us get a lot more information. >> thank you, governor. >> he's not always the most articulate but he is very much of this state. based on his performance today does he seem to be rising to the occasion? >> he responded better today than yesterday and the answer to that emotional question to say he's praying for peace, i don't know if he rehearsed at the bat was very strong. last night he was not strong back in the time the ferguson disorder erupted back in august but he seemed to have learned lessons. they get that stuff went wrong and that's huge. >> his rhetoric and the press conference and the ceremony where he signed into law was really impressive.

the balance between the rights the different points of view the plurality, i don't know the people on this commission but he read their bios. it's an incredibly impressive group, a broad range. we expect a decision probably by the end of this week. longer-term, looking at jobs community relations, the makeup of the police force, and holistic look at the background of these people is really impressive. i've never seen him as good as he was today. >> as much as we focus on the governor, there is responsibility for a lot of different people. there is a mirror, a mayor, the police chief. if this is going to work on it will not just be all on the governor. he has responsibility but others will have to come together. if there are protests, you have to work together. >> part of why he had trouble saying the buck stops with him is admirable in that it's a

shared responsibility that he does not want to have the whole thing on his back because he think voices should be heard. you lived here your whole life. why do you need a commission? they have different experiences, different voices. this is going to be a hard thing for him. it wasn't so great every step of the way and he's been criticized as much as everybody but a think he has a pretty good control. >> not a lot of people had to deal with what he dealt with in august. after the midterm election, the course from republicans was pretty much astonishing. call to work together and embrace a new area of bipartisanship in washington and it did not last long. here's house speaker john boehner talking about options on a possible keystone pipeline bill throwing in a gratuitous reference to their favorite m.i.t. economics professor. >> vetoing a popular bill would be an indication he does not care about the american people's priorities. it's the equivalent of calling

the american people stupid. >> some gruber-ing there. we've seen a lot of that spewing back and forth. the bipartisanship, was it ever possible or just a chimeric? >> i think a banner and mcconnell would like to get things done. latebreaking news suggest the president will go forward with a big executive order on immigration. i still believe the white house despite protesting to the contrary they do not quite get the full impact of our publicans are going to react. in the short terms, i do not see a lot of aspect for bipartisanship. maybe after the spending deadline but right now are listening to john boehner, that's not playacting. they are angry on a range of matters and it will not allow a breakthrough to occur. >> you cannot put all of the blame on the president. there is a little bit of my way or the highway-ism and it's hard to get away with that.

they've had that when they had no power and now they have power and it would be weird if they were suddenly like, let's play nice. >> finally, in iowa, breaking news. mark your calendars january 24 the republican congressman from iowa holding the iowa freedom summit in des moines, a chance for republican presidential candidates to strut their stuff in front of caucus-goers. three guys already booked -- ted cruz, mike huckabee, santorum. there'll be questions if there's going to be a straw poll or another event but how big is this for steve king? will this be a test for early 2015? >> they are the guys you expect to show up at a steve king event, grassroots conservatives appealing to the right quadrant. a big chunk of the iowa republican caucus electorate

need to be at the steve king event. jeb bush probably does not need to be there. a lot of this people will never before him. >> anyone who thinks they need a more moderate stance cannot be happy that steve king is making himself the first kingmaker. >> you cannot go to that event and talk about a path to citizenship. we talk to missouri congressman emanuel cleaver when we come back right after this. ♪

>> our guest tonight is the congressman from missouri's fifth district. congressman emanuel cleaver joins us from washington. >> good to be with you. how are you doing? >> good to be with you, sir. i saw an op-ed where you use the phrase that ferguson and st. louis are on "the precipice of pandemonium." what are you expecting to see if the grand jury does not have an

indictment in the mike brown case? >> what i think we will see as a group of young people who have been organizing actually going through the kind of training that many of us went through and a 1960's and 1970's to participate with the southern christian leadership conference, the nonviolent right action. having said that, this past summer when we had all of the tumult, we had an influx of people coming in from los angeles, gang members coming in from chicago. they are committed to doing some damage to the image of the community and the entire nation. we have white and black friends groups that would like to see ferguson explode.

i think an overwhelming majority of the people who live in ferguson and the young people who, just a few weeks ago flew to washington on their own dime to meet with me, they're trying to send a message that they intend to take another course of action and violence will not be one of them. >> last night, governor nixon was asked in a press conference whether the buck stopped with him and he stumbled out of that having a hard time answering. i'm wondering if you have full confidence to deal with whatever unfolds over the next few days. >> i think the governor is trying desperately hard to do the right things and not overdo anything and not make predictions that may fall flat. i think on board, he's listening to law enforcement folks from the state highway patrol which i think is a good thing.

i'm not sure that all of this should fall on the governor. we have a mayor in ferguson. i was the mayor in the kansas city, missouri, for two terms. when we were on the precipice of disaster after the rodney king decisions, it was my responsibility to try to dissolve all of the friction that was out on the streets. i don't think people are taking into account that ferguson has an elected mayor. that mayor should not be standing behind the governor hoping the governor will take all of the blame if things go awry. the mayor has to have some responsibility. >> fair enough. i'm curious whether you think the emergency declaration and the national guard being called

in and the situation, do you think this is a smart move that creates an environment of calm and confidence or doesn't escalate tension? >> i'm ambivalent about it. i think the governor did what he thought was the right wing to do. we always have to be careful that we do not send the message that would suggest we expect these people to fall to the lowest level of expectations. since the summer, many have spent their time thinking about the horrors of what could happen after the grand jury returned a decision not to indict. i don't think we should just say that it will be so bad that everybody expected explosion. in some ways, that's what the calling out of the national guard would suggest. if the governor did not do that and we had problems, there would be a group of people than bouncing him for not being ready

for disaster when we knew something would happen when a decision was rendered. >> congressman, we only have one minute left so relatively shortly, congressman lewis, your colleague, and an interview today talked about how there was not an indictment there would be an massive protests all over the country echoing the selma marches. do you think that will happen? if so, would it be a good or bad thing? >> in some places it will be good. you will find that congressman lacy clay and i will try to bring as many as 20, 25 members of the congressional black caucus out to do voter registration. the revenge i think we ought to exact is to use the 70% african american population there to put people in office, not all of whom black but people who would respond that i think could

squash a lot of the talk of explosion. >> congressman, real quick, the white house review of the question of militarization and the police is one you care a lot about. any sense of where that stands? >> congressman clay and i met with the secretary of defense over at the white house. we hope we can get some response and we will be meeting over at the white house tomorrow. we will raise this issue because we think you would be a good time to make an announcement before the grand jury files its report given that it can be done. >> congressman emanuel cleaver thank you for taking time. i'm turning to jo mannies, political reporter for public radio. what do you expect to see happen here in st. louis and ferguson if in fact as people expect

there will be no indictment? what will he see here in the streets in the subsequent 48, 72 hours or longer? >> there will definitely be protests. the only issue is how big they are and how boisterous they will get. there are people on both sides who are assuming there will be a sizable number of people who are upset with the decision taking the streets but as congressman cleaver pointed out, there is some pressure to keep it nonviolent. there were some nights of violent looting which some believe actually hurt the cause. there is an effort to tamper down the emotions. >> there were a few things that happened this summer, one was the incident the fact of which are known to not many and the other was the response to the riots that took place. what do you think the city

state, elected officials and law enforcement here, what did people learn that might be applied to what they will handle now? >> in some cases, this is why the governor is acting the way he did. the governor came under a lot of fire because he waited several days before he got involved out all. once things seemed to get out of hand, he called in the national guard, the highway patrol. some thought he kind of answered the protest with maybe too much power. now he wants to make sure he does not replicate the criticisms that came after waiting too long this summer. the police, on the other hand, as your viewers may know ferguson has their own police department. st. louis has to be asked to come in. under the governor emergency powers, they will be taking the lead role. they came under fire for being a little too militant with tanks

and tear gas. county police are trying to tamp down that image. you've got a lot of people trying to take some of the lessons they learned this summer it but no one is real short. it's colder than usual in st. louis. >> it certainly is cold. what do you think the atmosphere is here? do you think there's an atmosphere of expectations? are people braced for the worst? >> their braced for the worse in some areas. we've done stories about big runs to gun stores, people purchasing firearms because they are nervous. >> our thoughts will be with you guys and we hope however danes unfold there will be relative peace in the city and state. jo mannies, thank you. we will be right back with more from st. louis. ♪

>> to be sure this is a tense time for people who live in and around st. louis, especially ferguson. there is no reason to define the people who live here just by these events. everyone agrees on a admirable topic. >> unless you've been near st. louis, you probably never heard the name provel. only here can you find it roped, shredded, or a five pound block. it's ideal for pizza which in st. louis is a flat crust and cut into party squares. >> we are not new york or chicago style. this is definitely st. louis style.

>> they dominate with nearly 100 restaurants mostly concentrated around st. louis. >> we started imo's in 1964 and we started from day one using provel cheese. it is cheddar, swiss, and provolone. that's what makes imo's imos. >> when it melts, it's almost like a sauce, gooey with a smoky flavor. >> to me, it tastes gourmet, like gouda. >> you have very good taste. [laughter] >> and of course, provel is served on the salad and these kid friendly cheese bites. to give you a sense of how popular it is, here's how many boxes they go through. this is a one-week supply. not everyone likes it. pi pizzeria makes deep dish.

>> they count the president as the fan and they are anti-provel. >> you would not think this would be a story. >> even jimmy kimmel calls imo's terrible. >> i think jimmy kimmel likes controversy. >> do you know why it's not used outside of st. louis? >> they just don't know about it. >> we will be right back with our favorite st. louis food right after this. ♪

>> we're only on the tube half an hour a day but we are online 24/7 on bloomberg.com/poltics. >> the toasted ravioli is the finest food in st. louis bar none.

i could eat it for three meals a day. >> "taking stock" is coming up next. as they say here, sayonara. enjoy the toasted ravioli. ♪

>> hello, i'm pimm fox and this is what i'm "taking stock" of this tuesday, november 18. the u.s. senate is set to vote on the pipeline. transcanada's executive lays out the case for approval. >> in the impact statement it's concluded that the project has minimal impact, that the oil will be used in the united states, not going to be exported. all those conclusions are well laid out in the 17,000 pages. >> california democratic senator barbara boxer, on the other hand, has a different perspective.