with the threat of isis in syria and iraq. i'm brianna keilar, thank you so much for watching us here in "the situation room." erin burnett "outfront" starts now. >> another police officer in ferguson under fire tonight. we'll show you the video that just got him suspended. plus new evidence from the michael brown shooting raising questions tonight about the moments just before his death. and breaking news on the brutal beheading of the american at the hands of isis. late word tonight that the united states attempted a rescue mission this summer. it is an extraordinary development in the story. we have all the details. let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight we begin with the breaking news in ferguson.

the nation's top law enforcement official is on the ground in ferguson, missouri, attorney general eric holder meeting with the parents of michael brown. the unarmed black teen shot by white police. protesters beginning to gather just again preparing for another possible brutal encounter with police. and tonight we have new video of a face-off between a police officer and protesters. and i want to play it for you. >> my hands are up. my hands are up. [ bleep ]. you're going to kill him. get back. >> what's your name, sir? go [ bleep ] yourself. your name's go [ bleep ] yourself? hello officer go [ bleep ]

yourself. a grand jury began hearing evidence in the case today. jurors who, of course, have seen wall-to-wall media coverage of the protests possibly. stephanie elam is here tonight. we want to start with the officer who is threatening to exmettive kill protesters. >> this was just around midnight. it was a very tense situation out on the street. we were out here at the time when that happened. we do now know that the st. louis county police department has come out. they said that he's been suspended, relieved of his duties, they said this does not reflect how they believe that their police officers should act. the video, when you take a look at it, erin -- it's very clear. i should also note i saw another officer raise his weapon. people out here also yelling for him to bring his weapon down and another officer stepping in to make that happen. same thing as in this video here where ab officer stepped in and had this police officer lower

his weapon. that's pretty incredible. you saw this happening again. this obviously being caught on tape caused this officer to, as you say, be indefinitely suspended. interesting you saw maybe not with the exmettives but you saw this happening nearby. what's the feeling of where you are of whether these things will happen again tonight? >> it feels very different today. i'll tell you that, erin. there's a lot less people out here at this hour than there were yesterday. you can look up and down the street. we got rerouted about three different times because we kept getting sent away from one point where we could enter here to another. hard for people to get in here for one thing. but the tension, you could feel it last night when that situation was happening. to the credit of the police officers around the officer i saw, they told him to lower his weapon. at the same time when things got tense on the community side, i saw people from the community, just regular everyday people running out to sort of create a barrier between the police and where the protesters were standing saying we're not going to get into this, we're not

going to have this violence tonight. so a lot more people being proactive about trying to keep the situation calm here. obviously the sun is still up. we've seen these agitations flare up into the evening. so we'll be out here and see how it goes. right now it feels like a very different scene. >> thank you very much, stephanie. the question is whether or not attorney general eric holder's visit will help. david mattingly is on the ground. we know that holder is having a meeting with the brown family. what more can you tell us? >> that meeting with the brown parents is private. it is not in front of the cameras. it is behind closed doors, but it punctuates which has been a day-long list of meetings and appearances and high-level meetings here in ferguson to address the unrest. >> attorney general eric holder's extraordinary public tour aims to build public trust in the investigation of a bitter and divisive case. many believe the turmoil

gripping ferguson, missouri, demands clear and prompt answers. is the police killing of michael brown a case of an officer defending himself in fear of his life or the senseless murder of an unarmed teenager? managing expectations may prove as difficult as managing the nightly crowds of protesters. in an open letter published tuesday, holder asked for the public's cooperation and patience. missouri civil rights attorney steven rile suggests holder will need it when looking into patterns of practices at the pd. when the attorney general is looking at this one police department, he's looking at how they do business. >> yes. >> he's looking not just at the chief in charge now but previous administrations? >> of course. because in a police department the culture goes across generations even. >> reporter: a justice department civil rights investigation could take year. in ferguson, even the local grand jury process of

determining what charges, if any, to file against police officer darren wilson could push into october. >> keep in mind there's still a lot of forensic examinations going on, and we're not going to present partial parts of that. we'll do it as it's completed. >> reporter: under normal circumstances they feed information to a grand jury, but in this case perceptions formed during ten days of violent unrest could make jurors more opinionated and possibly predisposed to a particular charge? >> possibly predisposed to a particular charge. that does make it difficult for the prosecutor to truly create a fair and impartial process. >> reporter: when you look at the reisncent history of the justice department, the investigation in new orleans took five years, the investigation launched after the death of trayvon martin is still ongoing. erin? >> thank you, very much. we're going to be joined by

trayvon martin's father to talk about that. joining me is cnn's van jones and general counsel for the st. louis police officers association. you represent the police officer who had his gun pointing at protesters. for anyone who just joined the channel now, i want to play the video again. >> my hands are up. my hands are up. >> i will [ bleep ] kill you. >> you know, he said i will -- kill you. what was he thinking? >> look, this is called fatigue. these people are human. my hero, other than my father is atticus finch. he makes the statement in the book "to kill a mockingbird," you never really understand another person until you see the world from his point of view, until you put his skin on and you walk around in it for a little while. this has been going on for ten days. this is a situation where these

police men are put in the line and people are provoking them. they're using the worst invekt ivs. they're calling them names. they're doing everything they can do to provoke a response from these police officers. and in this instant -- now, by the way, erin, i don't represent this particular police officer. but what happens in a situation like this, is that a person is human. they respond. and that's what you saw. it's unfortunate. it's unpleasant. but it's a human response. we can't expect these men and these women to be out there day in, day out, all these hours that they're out there and not respond. fortunately no one was hurt. >> and my apologizes. i was under the impression you represent him specifically but you represent the st. louis police officers association. >> yes, ma'am. >> let me ask you, though, because this is a time where you rely on your law enforcement to be under pressure, to be under duress, be under fatigue, take the high road. even officers around him try to pull him back and say stop. it seems like this guy, what,

was he -- was it a training issue? he should have taken the high road, shouldn't he? >> of course. it's not a training issue. these people are very well trained. it's a fatigue issue. you have to understand the environment we're in right here. it's a very, very difficult place to be. >> van? >> no. well, first of all, it is completely inaccurate to pretend like this is something that just happened this one time, this one officer after ten days he got tired. this has been going on since the very first day. part of the problem is if this officer is justifiably suspended probably a third of the police force and a lot of national guard should also be suspended. we've heard from the very first day this particular allegation, which i've never heard before in seeing protests for 20 years of police officers leveling weapons at crowds. that is not supposed to happen. the very first minute of the very first hour of the very first day when you are taking a gun safety class, the first thing they say is do not point a

weapon at a person unless you plan to shoot them. so literally, you have an entire police force that has been doing this not one officer tonight, for almost ten days. and the reason that people are so upset is because people have been saying over and over, they were pointing guns at us. finally now there's videotape evidence that we can get to it. but it's completely unfair to the people who have been out there for day after day to pretend it's one time and about fatigue. this is a training issue, this is an issue of harassment of this community. >> our reporter stephanie elam just said she experienced this -- it wasn't filmed, but she did experience it with another police officer who leveled his weapon where she was last night. so it doesn't appear to be isolated. >> i'm confident that there are incidents that are happening out there. but this is a situation where they've been doing it for ten days. they're human bebeings, erin. they're going to make mistakes.

fortunately they have support and they're causing people who have these issues to stand down. but the flip side is you're asking them to stand there and stare into the faces of people who are spitting on them, who are yelling at them, screaming at them, who are points their nose, who are touching them. you're saying just take it. and they do. by and large, they do. there are isolated incidents where i'm sure it has occurred but you can't blanketly indict these people for this. they are human beings, understand what they're going through. >> what about this issue with taunting? you heard the person in the video say, all right, mr. f-u. there was mouthing off going on on the other side. >> no question. >> my father was a cop in the military. i'm from a law enforcement family. my uncle just retired from memphis city police department. i respect what law enforcement goes through and, you're right, they are human. but when you have these kinds of allegations and concerns happening day one, not day 10,

not day 11, there needs to be a response. when elderly people said they were pointing guns at me, where church leaders said they're pointing guns at me, there's no response from the top ten days ago saying this is our protocol. we do not level guns at people. finally it's got to the point where we're talking about it with video. it's unfair to pretend that police have shown the kind of restraint that you would have expected. i've been a part of politics for 20 years. i've never seen this kind of a harassment of peaceful protesting crowd. >> i think the restraint has been admirable. >> thanks very much to both of you. and next, new video of the michael brown shooting. obviously that is a significant development. was the teen moving toward the officer when he was shot? plus man with an important message for the brown family. trayvon martin's father is "outfront." and a major development in the

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breaking news out of ferguson, missouri, tonight. we want to show you pictures of crowds gathering in ferguson yet again tonight as police brace themselves for what could be another violent night. for days the proests have

spiraled out of control as crowds grow, throwing rocks, bottles, molotov cocktail. the grand jury convened for the first time. the prosecutor says it could take, get this, until october for jurors to see all the evidence and make decision on a charge. can you imagine? tonight we're getting key video from a key person in the case. and kyung lah is out front. >> reporter: seconds after michael brown was shot, witnesses from three different angles recording with wildly different accounts of that critical moment. from this recording audio from an unseen nearby man who says he saw brown moving towards the officer. but brown did not run toward the officers say two women who recorded from these two other angles. >> he turned around, faces the officer and puts his lands up and the officer continues to shoot him until he goes down to the ground. >> while he was running away from the officer he was getting

shot at. >> reporter: who is telling the truth? maybe everyone. or at least they believe they are. >> just because somebody tells you something with a lot of detail, just because they say it with confidence, just because they express it with emotion, it doesn't mean that it really happened that day. >> reporter: cognitive psychologist elizabeth loftus says she's testified in 300 cases since 1975 and says over and over again eyewitnesses are often wrong. the trayvon martin case. one witness saw a black man with a hoodie on top of a white man, while another witness recalls a man with a white shirt on top of another. the 2002 d.c. sniper shootings, multiple witnesses described a white van or box truck. police shut down free ways to frisk scores of van drivers, but the real car used, a blue chevy four-door sedan. the 1995 oklahoma city bombing. loftus testified in the criminal case and says a key eyewitness

rented timothy mcveigh the ryder truck used to carry the bombs in that attack. >> that ryder truck employee remembered this mcveigh was with another person and there was now a mad hunt for john doe number two but there was nobody with mcveigh the day he rented that ryder truck. >> that witness was not intentionally lying, says loftus. memory is flawed and affected by stress. when eyewitnesses become courtroom witnesses, flawed testimony leads to bigger problems. >> the major cause of wrongful convictions is faulty eyewitness testimony. that's the major cause. and it's responsible when maybe about three-quarters of the cases. >> reporter: as time grows from the shooting, witnesses might unknowingly shape and adopt their own memories of what happened based on what they see and hear in the media. truth often only found in the evidence recovered. kyung lah, cnn, los angeles.

pretty incredible report by kyung. "outfront" natalie jackson who served as counsel for the trayvon martin family. you just heard kyung's reporting. how can we be sure that eyewitness testimony in this case is already contradicting itself between witnesses, how can you know what's reliable? >> i'll tell you, the video that you just showed, i don't think that's reliable. that's a video of someone with totally different clothes on than mike brown. and that's the problem when you have all these different accounts and you have media influencing also the jury. so you know, it becomes a problem. i agree that witness recollection, but that's one of the reasons that you get the witnesses immediately. >> let me just try to understand what you're saying. you're saying that the eyewitness that said mike brown was charging was not looking at mike brown? >> i'm saying -- i looked at the video that you just showed and that was not mike brown.

mike brown has a white t-shirt and he's laying on the ground. i saw that. that was someone coming to his aid. >> i'm not sure i totally understand. i understand your point that you're making. as a former prosecutor, current defense attorney, do you trust eyewitness testimony which regardless of which video they were taking, you now have in the example our reporter just showed three different accounts which contradict each other of people who all say they were there. >> it depends on the eyewitness testimony. all of the experts say there are inherent problems with eyewitness testimony. juries want to see other physical evidence such as the autopsy, forensics that corroborate eyewitness testimony because it tends to be unreliable. >> natalie, attorney general eric holder who is in ferguson today, met with mike brown's family. he said, quote, hundreds of people have already been interviewed in connection with this matter. one thing that we know is there's going to be different versions of what happened. so how are you going to know

who's right and who's wrong? >> i agree with paul. you're going to have to take into consideration all the evidence and here we have, you know -- as long as a witness' statement does not conflict with the evidence, then that witness statement should be put on and presented to a jury. or a grand jury in this instance. >> i think natalie and i will agree, though, on one thing. you know, the local law enforcement people have totally lost control of this case. and i'm telling you the case is falling apart right before your eyes -- >> we've seen these eyewitnesses. they've appeared on cnn and other places telling their stories. they'll now have to tell them again to a grand jury. i imagine what's going to start to happen is there's differences between what a person said a week ago and in two weeks, not that they're intentionally lying. >> when i was putting together a murder case, most important thing is keeping control of your witness. one statement is made before the grand jury. these witnesses are on

television station a, b and c, now we have three different transcripts of testimony, then they testify in the grand jury, then they talk to the fbi. we're going to have about ten different versions of this. i've come up probably with seven or eight discrepancies in eyewitness testimony already that can be used to destroy them on the witness stand. critical issues. >> natalie, go ahead. >> i've come up with witness statements that are collaborative with the autopsy that was put out. but i'll say again that these are witnesses that were not interviewed by ferguson police. that's important that ferguson police did not interview them. they came on television. these people have a deep distrust of the police. if you see a police officer who you believe shot someone in the middle of the street, are you going to go to the police and tell them? that is a problem when we have a breakdown between police and between citizens. once again, this problem is much larger. that's why we need mandatory

dash cams and body cams on every police officer in the united states. >> that may be a great idea, but if you want to convict somebody of committing a crime, you've got to put together a strong case. i'm telling you by letting these witnesses testify on television, by not interviewing them in a timely basis, this case has probably been fatally damaged already and we're right at the beginning of the case. you see the case destroyed by amateur preparation, you know, i just think it's a disgrace. >> i think that it's a disgrace on the police, not on the witnesses. once again, why do we need mandatory dash cams. i don't blame the people who are afraid of the police in this instance. this is a problem with a breakdown of trust with the citizens and the police. we've seen it over and over again in ferguson. >> natalie, i'm not criticizing the witnesses here. you should have a prosecutor in place who has spoken to the witnesses and said to them that your testimony will be reviewed, it will be honored and to get them under control and before a

grand jury as quickly as possible but of course we're not seeing that happen in this case. >> natalie, on that note, i want to give this question to you. the grand jury convened today. the prosecutor whom i know you feel should recuse himself. his father was shot by a black man. >> that's not why i feel he should. >> fair point. i just want our viewers to know that's what a lot of viewers are pointing to that particular issue. he's going to stay in place. he said today he won't have all the evidence most likely presented to the grand jury until mid-october. is that acceptable that it could take that long to decide whether there's a charge here? >> this is why i thought he should recuse himself because even if it is acceptable, people will question it because it's him. that's why he should recuse himself. if there's even an appearance of bias or an appearance of favoritism such as you know people in the police department, you worked with them, you've done these. you haven't convicted an officer yet and you have grand juries, those are the problems. >> paul, do you think it's acceptable that we might not

have a charge until october? >> it's typical in police investigations that it would take a long time. i've looked at cases in new york, sometimes they take six months because the investigations are so thorough. fbi you have 40 agents in the field taking statements. eric holder has come in, done a separate autopsy, his own team in the field. he may as well take over the case now. he doesn't trust the locals. >> this is not a complicated case. >> it's gotten complicated now. it's gotten complicated now as a result of the way it's been handled now. >> it's not that complicated, paul, no matter what. >> you would think it was complicated if you were charged with murder. >> i want it done thoroughly and i want due process. >> so we both agree. we both agree. >> end on a note of agreement between the two of you. thanks as always to both of you. next more protesters now objecting to the prosecutor in the case. should he step down? plus a man still seeking justice

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comcast business. built for business. breaking news on the growing unrest over the death of mike brown. we want to show you live pictures of protesters marching in ferguson, missouri. these actually were just taken moments ago, let me be clear. at this hour crowds are gathering to march to the office of the prosecutor handling the case. critics say he can't be impartial because his father was killed on the job by a black man. the attorney general of the united states is now involved. eric holder is in ferguson tonight. he's going to have a private meeting with michael brown's family. this actually was expected to all be finished now, but it's still going on. obviously important that it's still being extended. officials are bracing for more violent protests tonight over mike brown and there was another

major confrontation last night. >> my hands are up, bro, my hands are up. >> hands up. >> i'll [ bleep ] kill you. >> officials say a st. louis county police officer is now suspended indefinitely after pointing that assault rifle at a protester and threatening as you can see by saying, i'll -- kill you. in the backdrop of all that happening and our reporters saying that was not an isolated incident. they saw another officer pointing a gun. our stephanie elam said she experienced that. what can you tell us about attorney general holder's meeting with mike brown's parents today? >> well, we know that his visit is just about wrapping up here in the ferguson area, in the st. louis area. we know he met in the past hour or so with the parents of michael brown. we don't know a lot of details about it, frankly, because it was a closed meeting.

he wanted to make sure this was a private meeting. one of the things he wanted to do was make sure justice was done on the part of his son. and to send a message that it might take some time for the investigations to get going, but also he wanted to show that they're really going to make sure that everybody is listened to. he also was talking to the young people here, frankly. the first thing he did this morning was to meet with a dprup of students at a community college and tell them his own stories as a black man, he was a young prosecutor in washington where he was stopped by police for apparently no reason and he wanted to tell them he knew how they felt. as michael brown's parents plan to bury their son on monday, that's when the funeral will be, one of the only families that can understand their pain and certainly the only one that can understand the public scrutiny and focus on their agony,

trayvon martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman george zimmerman in 2012. trafb trayvon's father tracy is "outfront." this has got to open up wounds that haven't even healed for you. when you see what's happening in ferguson, what do you think? >> first, you know, it takes me back to february 26, 2012, and i start to relive it all over again. i know what this family is going through. i know that this family is agonizing. i know that their pain is tremendous. i know that their hearts are heavy. their hearts are hurting. but we as a family, we as a community, we just want the family to know that we're here with them, we'll mourn with them, we'll stand with them. and we're here for them. >> the attorney general, eric holder, as you know, we were just reporting, finishing up a

meeting with michael brown's family at this moment. do you think that the attorney general's going to make a difference? do you think he made a difference in your son's case? >> well, you know, our case is still -- has yet to play out fully. i think he can make a difference. and just by showing that he's interested, that he's there with the family, him having the meeting with the family, that will give them a sense of security, a sense of trust in the justice system. >> i'm curious because it's ongoing and for our viewers they may thing the case is over, it's not over because the justice department, eric holder, has a civil rights investigation into trayvon's killing in 2012. but there have been no charges filed on the civil rights basis against george zimmerman. the investigation is still ongoing. are you frustrated? do you think they've been dragging their feet? do you think that there's all this focus on ferguson, they're

visiting ferguson and that didn't happen for you? >> no, i'm not frustrated about it at all. i think that they need to visit ferguson. i think that the attention right now needs to be in ferguson and our case will play out sooner or later, but right now the main focus for this country should be on mike brown, the slaying of mike brown and they shouldn't -- we shouldn't be focused on anything else right now. >> do you think -- there's been focus on, for example, that the police department released video of mike brown allegedly robbing a convenience store the same day they released the name of the police officer who shot him. some have said that was purposeful or at the least that that was done to hurt the character, to character assassinate mike brown. what do you think? >> i think it was done intentionally. i don't think that that was a mistake. and i know far too well that

things are done intentionally to assassinate the character of slain little black and brown kids all across this country, particularly in our case and in this situation here. i don't think that that tape should have been leaked or released on the same day that they were releasing the officer's name. >> tracy, thank you very much. we appreciate your coming on to talk about this. >> thank you. >> tracy is trayvon's father. now next, the breaking news. we're just getting word that the united states attempted to rescue the american journalist who was beheaded by isis. this is an extraordinary development. and we don't use that word lightly. that's how our barbara starr is describing it. we've got the breaking news next. why a former american hostage says the united states has it all wrong when it comes to this situation. this is kathleen. setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills.

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breaking news. we just learned u.s. special

operations tried to rescue american hostages, one of them james foley, whose beheading was taped by isis yesterday. the hostages weren't at the target location when the special forces arrived. barbara starr is at the pentagon. you described this development as extraordinary. >> absolutely extraordinary, erin. good evening. one of the most dangerous missions u.s. commandos have undertaken in years by any measure. it was earlier this summer. it was several dozen of the most elite commandos from groups like s.e.a.l. team six and delta force. they went into syria by helicopter. they were protected overhead by fighter jets and surveillance aircraft right into what, by any measure, is enemy territory. they had intelligence. they believe the hostages were at a particular location being held by a particular group of isis militants. no one in the government is yet saying where the location is. that information apparently still quite sensitive.

but when they landed, they found that the hostages indeed were not there at the time. a firefight broke out. several isis militants killed, we are told, killed. all u.s. troops were fine. one member was slightly wounded. so we had one wounded in action, no killed. but for them to go into syria which certainly has all over that country heavy militarized presence, whether it's isis, the regime, other militant groups, al qaeda factions, rebels, i mean, all over that country. there is no place that is safe for american commandos. if they had been discovered, it would have been very grim. there would have been a serious firefight to get out of this, but apparently everybody got out okay. they just didn't find the hostages. >> they didn't find them and, of course, there was that horrific video last night. and there is one other american still in the hands of ice i

terrorists tonight. his name is steven sotloff. he was seen in the same video where foley was beheaded. militants are threatening to execute him, too. they said they would behead him if the united states did not stop air strikes. >> any attempt by you, obama, to deny the muslims their rights of living in safety under the islamic caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people. >> david rose was a reporter for "the new york times" when the taliban took him hostage for seven months. in 2008 he escaped thanks to a local journalist. he's "outfront." this situation we're seeing tonight, this is a situation where the united states mounted, it turns out, as barbara's reporting, several dozen special forces risked their lives to go in and try to save these guys. they weren't there. we now end up with them losing

their life. the other way to possibly save those american lives would be to pay ransom. that's something european countries do every single day. the united states does not. should they? >> i don't think the united states should. i think the broader problem is that there is no coherent strategy between the u.s. and europe about what to do about this problem. kidnappings are working. al qaeda affiliates have raised $125 million from kidnappings. they raised 60 million alone last year. france denies, germany, spain pays ransom. there were journalists held from germany and spain, ransoms were paid for them. they're home safe now. jim foley is dead. >> jim foley is dead. my question to you is would a ransom -- i know you don't advocate it but the europeans do and they got out safely. would he have been released or is this an issue of he was an

american. and if you're american they'll take your ransom and still behead you? >> in the end of the family of the captives should decide what they want to do, do they want a rescue operation, do they want to try to pay a ransom privately. there are cases where families and organizations, there are oil workers that get kidnapped in different parts of the world, and the companies pay smaller ransoms. the problem with the government ransoms is they're millions of dollars. >> $10 million for an individual has been paid in. >> the largest reported in "the new york times" was four hostages that were french, $40 million, $10 million each to free them. that's the record. and that creates an incentive, i agree with you. >> what do you think will happen to steven sotloff. that's the "time" journalist being held with james foley. he watched james foley beheaded in this video. and they said you're next if america doesn't stop air strikes. america has air strikes in iraq

today. what will happen here? >> i feel terrible for him. he's in an impossible situation. and i think it's a very grim plight for him. i think, you know, you have to continue these air strikes. the u.s. government can't let a terrorist organization decide its foreign policy. but you know, i'm lucky to have survived. i was in the same situation. i feel horrific for him, but it is a very grim situation for him. >> your op-ed today was how the united states failed james foley. do you feel differently now that you're hearing that the united states risked dozens of special forces' lives to try to rescue him. >> i wrote it before i heard about the raid. the real tenor of the piece how the united states and europe failed jime failed jim foley. this inconsistent approach, this lack of a strategy isn't working. kidnapping is spreading. the united states needs to talk about this.

the europeans need to admit they pay these ransoms and this needs to come out of the shadow. >> read his fascinating op-ed with an incredible set of numbers in terms of how much these rah smns are. we'll go to don lemon who has a live ride in ferguson. you see don there. we're back with this live interview.

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breaking news on our stop story tonight. police bracing for another night of violence in ferguson, missouri. don lemon is on a ride along with ron johnson, the man tasked with dealing with this crisis. don, take it away. >> reporter: this is our protest lot -- thank you, erin. this is the captain ron johnson showing us around. this is usually a busy time and we're on the main drag at west flour rens and ferguson where the big uproar happened. not that many people out. what did you do right since two days ago? >> i think that first the community did some things right. the clergy and elders and activists came out and didn't allow agitators and criminals to

mask themselves within the group and they were pointing them out to us. they were helping us. they were moving away from them and not having the same activities, so really, the community did it. >> so you feel good about it so far? >> i really feel good about it. i felt good about yesterday. and i feel good. people are out here talking, still being able to protest, so yes, i feel good. >> can i ask you something that caused controversy today. on tuesday there was an incident with a police officer pointing a semiautomatic weapon loaded at a peaceful protester saying i will f-ing kill you and when they asked him name, he said -- i forget when he said but he used an expletive, as well. he's been relieved of duties and on extended leave, indefinite leave. what do you make of that? indefinite suspension. >> that part i'm not aware of. we have removed him from this assignment. we did contact his department and told them of his behavior

and that was until toleranted here and he needed to be removed from this assignment. >> when you saw that video, what did you think? >> i was disturbed and bothered and disrespected by it and the men and women who have been out here for over a week were disrespected by those comments. >> you got to meet with the attorney general eric holder today. >> yes, i did. >> what was that meeting like, what can you discuss, if you can talk about it? >> he was very honored. i reached to shake his hand and he opened and embraced me. he said this is what policing is about with you and the men and women serving as citizens of ferguson. he applauded the colonial of the highway patrol for his leadership. >> you close off coming up on the qt burned down and people were meeting. why did you close it off? >> i closed it off to preserve it and hopefully will show a quick trip the business needs to

be maintained here. i didn't want further damage to come and it became unsafe for peaceful protesters. >> that's the quick trip right now and since then, it has been gated off. you can see it's still burned out. obviously and they want to get it back out. we were here a little bit earlier, erin, and we walked out. i walked out with the captain and people were meeting with him, thanking him for closing this down and do you remember what the lady said? she said this is the first -- i've lived here all my life. >> she said i lived here all my life and this is the first time that i felt safe. >> ever. >> ever. what do you think of that? >> amazing. and i'm glad i could be part of that, but on the same turn, it's pretty sad. >> tonight we'll be fine, safe? >> tonight we will do everything we can to make this a safe place for the protesters and also those in their homes. >> all right. thank you very much, captain. appreciate it. erin, we've been out with the captain this evening riding around, checking on the hot

spots and so far, so good and everyone here is hoping it remains that way. back to you. >> don will have much more. don will be live tonight at 10:00 but you just heard the man in charge talking about that video where the police officer was pointing his gun at protesters swearing saying it will f-ing kill you. when he saw that he felt disturbed, bothered, disrespected by that officer put on leave. we'll be right back. so factors like diet can negatively impact good bacteria? even if you're healthy and active. phillips digestive health support is a duo-probiotic that helps supplement good bacteria found in two parts of your digestive tract. i'm doubly impressed! phillips' digestive health. a daily probiotic.

tomorrow out front, an exclusive investigation on the militarization of the police in america. why weapons meant for the battle field are in the hands of police officers. officers. anderson starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening from ferguson tonight. a new witness speaks out that ended with michael brown dead in a street just about three or four blocks from here and this small city in the national spotlight. >> by the time i gets outside, he's already turned around, facing the officer. he, he's, he have his arms under his stomach and half way down like he was going down and the officer lets out about three or four shots at him. >> as you know, this are a lot