on this wednesday the 20th of august. good morning. i'm jose kdiaz-balart. the chief law enforcement officer is on the way to ferguson this morning. attorney general eric holder will meeting with community leaders while at the same time a grand jury is meeting to hear evidence in the shooting death of michael brown. last night in fergusons things weren't quiet but they weren't out of control. captain ron johnson calls last night a turning point. >> i think that turning point was made by the clergy, the activists, the volunteers that men and women of law enforcement partnered together to make a difference. but also, those citizens took what we talked about last night. they protested early and went

home early. >> police arrested 47 people overnight. most for failing to leave the area like what happened in this clip. >> if you are in the middle of the street you are unlawfully assembled. you need to disperse immediately. >> you need to immediately stop lowing objects and disperse immediately. >> unlike the previous night there were no molotov cocktails thrown, no shoots, no tear gas, and police didn't fire a single shot. as ferguson heads into another critical day on the ground. the national weather service excessive heat warning through sunday for the area with the heat index expected to reach up to 107. let's begin on the ground in ferguson with the washington post. good to see you again. >> good to be back. >> do you agree with captain johnson calling last night a turning point. did he see it coming?

>> i think it certainly was a bit of a turning point. i think we saw the police disperse the crowd with the least amount of force they have exhibited on any night since this began. i think one or two rubber bullets fired. no tear gas employed. a little bit of pepper spray. we saw police able to disperse a crowd by a little after midnight, by 1:00 a.m. we saw an em try street. that's very different than what we've seen other nights here. >> yeah. and you tweeted early this morning, i'll read it to you. all around a messy situation. officers dispersed people largely without force for the first time in all of this. how did police and the tactics contribute to a calmer night, you think? >> so initially for most of the night, the police did something very different than what they've done. they lined up in a formation kind of standing off on the end of the street preparing for what could be described as a c

connotati connotation. police were mipg ling with protesters and residents. much more close to them and able to disfuse specific altercations and interactions. then that did abruptly change. at one point police decided the parking lot where people had been standing they couldn't stay there anymore. we see a little bit of escalation. police forcing people out of parking lots into the street and coming into the street and forcing them back on to the sidewalk. it agitated --. either from residents or police officer that we've seen pretty much every other night out there. >> good to see you. thank you for being with us. ahead of attorney general's visit today he's urging calm and send a strong message to people of ferguson writing, kwoetd, it's my pledge to the people of ferguson. our investigation into the matter will be full.

it will be fair, and it will be independent. i want to bring in paul henderson, a veteran prosecutor and a former federal prosecutor and u.s. attorney. thank you very much. i want to start with you. in his visit today eric holder will meet with fbi agents, prosecutors, and community leaders. he held a call along with white house senior adviser valerie jarret and civil rights leaders. how will holder's visit change the impact of the investigation? it's not needed to have the feds working any harder. they're working day and night. the positive thing it can accomplish is cooperation with state and local. we've seen symptoms of disarray and agreement. >> what do you see? >> holder was adamant they shouldn't release the video of the alleged robbery inside the convenience store that would

enflame the community. they did it anyway. we're questioning whether or not they're cooperating and proceeding. you can't tell if they're law enforcement partners or competitors. holder reaching out to state and local could go a long way to mending the fences. >> it seems to be going quick lip. here is how the los angeles times writes. quote, holder appears lock in an odd and unsteady competition with missouri officials over which one, if either, will prosecute ferguson police officer darren wilson first. could that be the case? >> that could be the case. what i think is interesting especially here with these facts and circumstances, is that even though we are starting the process today with the grand jury it's not the final judgment. double jeopardy and constitutional protections don't necessarily apply. even though we're having the grand jury come together because it's not an issue where the

defendant is ultimately at risk. he could be charged app that actually, i think, is more important for the community to understand and know there are several pathways there could be further indictment coming out the facts and circumstances surrounding the event. >> the attorney general has been briefed on the federal autopsy of michael brown and shows brown shot six times, at least, which appears to verify the private autopsy down by the family. how important is the third autopsy. >> i think it's extremely important. you'll get some differences in the eye witness account. we're hearing competing versions of what happened. >> doesn't that always happen when witnesses see something as traumatic as this? >> especially in cases like this. it's fast and dramatic. they're hearing from neighbors and seeing on tv all kinds of information. it filters into the mind set of witnesses. if you can get the solid, core scientific information at least establishing some of the basic

facts how many shots, what angles, and ultimately what distance. those could be vitally important elements. >> i want to continue on the state investigation into the shooting. grand jury will begin hearing information today any minute from prosecutors to determine if charges should be filed against the officer. according to the associated press, the potential charges officer darren wilson could face is first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. he's offered a chance to testify at some point. walk us through this. what has to happen? >> typically what happens in a grand jury you're allowed to bring in hearsay evidence. what it means is a lot of reports we've been hearing in the media from people that have been calling in will be introduced as evidence to the grand jury. that means that you won't necessarily have witnesses that are going to testify in a trial if there's a subsequent trial that are going to be presented

as evidence. one of the things that is interested about the grand jury process specifically in missouri is that the officer himself is allowed to testify. i can't imagine at this critical juncture that this officer is not going to take this opportunity to try and influence that grand jury and is going to testify to get his version of what we're hearing. one of the things i think we're watching and paying attention to is none of the reports and none of those investigations have been released either to the community or the media at this i want time. that's information that is going to be provided specifically and exclusively at this point to the grand jury. >> is that unusual? >> it's not unusual. this is typically what happens. one of the things i think that is interesting about this is what happens after that information is given to the grand jury what it's going to mean if they indict or if they don't indict. we've seen cases in the past

where a grand jury has been questioned or challenged when there's been a lot of notoriety around the case. one of the rare instances of the was like in the o.j. simpson trial where we had the grand jury come back with an indictment and the defense attorneys representing mr. sompson challenged the indictment and forced prosecutor to indict and charge separate my. i don't know something like that will happen. what makes this interesting is the fact there's a federal investigation that is going on concurrently where independent charges could come out of this. >> in an interview that will air later today, my colleague spoke to the president of police where he talked about whether wilson could get a fair case. this is what he said. >> do you think there's been a rush to judgment here? >> i think there's definitely been a rush to judgment. i think it was irresponsible to

call for vigorous prosecution. we're for a vigorous investigation, but when we talk about justice, we want justice for all concerned, and i'm concerned that darren wilson will receive his due process. >> is this a concern? >> i think only in part is there a rush to judgment. certainly there are people that the officer killed and should go to jail. there are people in the police community that think the officer is a victim of the media and a lot of politician. from what i tell, the media itself hasn't made a judgment. i can assure your viewers, the attorney general of the united states haven't made any kind of judgment on the case yet. >> thank you so much for being with us. it's a continuing story. this is just getting more and more intense as we now see attorney general arriving in ferguson. coming up an act of savagery. an american journalist is executed by isis on video. the terror group threatening

another american in here in south florida. what is next? we'll be going back to ferguson. today the grand jury will meet to hear evidence in the michael brown case. and we're waiting for the first glimpse of eric holder's arri l arrival. and we're asking this sports town which blueberry greek yogurt is their champion. it's the bottom of the 9th, who's it going to be? get your greek yogurt here! can i ask you a question? which one tastes the best? a tastes better. a. i love. lift it up and see what the winner is. who is it? no way. it's yoplait! i knew it! do you want to see which one yoplait greek beat? chobani. hoorah! yoplait greek wins again. take the taste-off for yourself. go boston! you got a little something on the back of your shoe there. a price tag! danger! price tag alert! oh. hey, guys. price tag alert! is this normal? well, progressive is a price tag free zone. we let you tell us what you want to pay, and we help you find options to fit your budget.

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more now from ferguson and despite what may prove to be a turning point tuesday night an officer-involved shooting in st. louis tuesday afternoon shows how fragile the situation. two officers shot and killed a 23-year-old black man who was waving a knife at police. quick dissemination may have helped keep things calm. that remains under investigation. the other investigation, the shooting death of michael brown,

the grand jury is expected to hear evidence today. jay nixon is saying tuesday night he'll not call for a special prosecutor leaving it up to the st. louis prosecutor. something claire mccaskill agrees with. >> i know the grand jury is diverse. that's important. i know that the two assistant prosecutors in charge of presenting this evidence are seasoned veteran prosecutors and one of them is a highly respected african-american prosecutor. they will be making the evidence presentation not bob and all the evidence will come in. >> and joining me now is democratic missouri state senator maria chappell and liz brown. thank you for being with us. liz, i want to start with you, given senator mccaskill's point what are your concerns about bob and the grand jury? >> well, senator mccaskill is accurate there's an african-american prosecutor,

there's a diverse grand jury, but none of that matters. because the fact of the matter is, that bob mccull will is head of his office. no prosecutor in his office is going to indict someone that bob doesn't want to be indicted. with respect to the grand jury, the grand jury could be 100% african-american, but they can only act on the evidence that is brought by bob. as your prior guest said, in a grand jury, you can bring in hearsay evidence. evidence that would not be michelle ed a missble in a court of law. and the fact that bob is allowing the perspective defendant to testify in the grand jury hearing, what that says is clearly there's no desire to obtain -- >> isn't that common? >> no, it is not. no, it is not that the defendant, the perspective defendant is allowed to testify in the grand jury?

no that is not. that is a statement saying you know what? we kind of don't want this guy indicted. no prosecutor is seeking an indictment ever would allow a defendant to testify in the grand jury. he gets to plead his case and the challenge is we don't even get to see what he gets to say. they could bring in his father. they could bring in his priest, anybody to make the defendant look good. and if the defendant looks good, there will not be an indictment. >> and state senator, you've been critical of governor nixon throughout the process. do you disagree with nixon and the senator over this investigation as well? >> well, i just have to tell you from the perspective of my community, governor nixon is looking for a way out. depending on what happens at the end of this discussion with the grand jury, either bob is going to be blamed or governor nixon is going to be blamed. it's the belief of this community that governor nixon

needs to appoint someone else outside of bob to take over this case. that's what people have been asking for for the last five or six days. there's a lot of mistrust in this community. >> and you're saying he wants a way out. a way out of what? >> well, the first thing that you have to recognize is that the governor still has yet to come to ground zero and talk to people. if it becomes a case where there is not an indictment, there is not an arrest, then you get to blame bob mckullough about that. if the governor country madoesn change, then it means he has no responsibility whatsoever. and some people believe that's what the governor wants. he doesn't want any accountability in this. if bob mccullough can get the blame, that's what he wants. the community would like to have

someone outside bob mccullough or outside the office to try the case. >> someone going to the ground zero is eric holder. he's arriving in ferguson after a call with thousands of civil rights leaders. what do you expect from holder on the ground? >> i expect that attorney general holder will talk to the family and assure the family that there will be due process. there will be a thorough investigation. it's kind of interesting to see compare and contrast what the attorney general who is represents the entire country is doing with this family and the prosecuting attorney here in the county of st. louis is not dealing with the family. bob mchad the opportunity to go to the family and assure them the process would be fair. if i might -- go ahead. >> yeah. no i wanted to say, because already we've talked about bob.

what specifically -- i want to hear from you, do you think makes him incapable of being objective on this? >> i think that's the fair and perfect question, jose. what makes bob mccullough. we should have reservations. let's look what we're asking him to do. we're asking the son of a police officer, the son of a police officer who was slain in the line of duty. we're asking this man, a 30-year history with the police officers in this region, police officers that he needs in order to get convictions in his office. we're asking him to look a police officer in the face. to look his dad in the face and say i am going to charge you with murder. i don't think it's fair to ask bob to make that decision. it's kind of like what they call a change of venue. you change from -- you take a case from one place to another because of that community is unable to fairly assess.

that's what we're asking for with the special prosecutor. we're asking that someone who shouldn't be asked to prosecute a police officer. we're asking that someone else who doesn't have the relationship with the police department who doesn't have the relationship with the prosecutors's office an independent person make a determination on whether or not darren wilson should be charged with murder. >> liz brown and state senator maria chappell that dahl, thank you for your time. coming up an american journalist beheaded in a graphic video. isis claims responsibility. what will america do if the terrorist group takes things to a far more dangerous level?

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it shows foley citing threats against the u.s. before being beheaded. we're only showing this one image. neighbors of his hometown are in a state of shock. >> our whole family is devastated right now for such a useless, senseless loss. >> just hearing the news tonight, my mom and i were both, like, oh, my god. just very sad. >> in a statement folye mother said, quote, we have never been prouder of our son jim. he gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the syrian people. we implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. like jim, they are end ins. >> foley had been previously held captive by pro gadhafi forces. he was adamant in his need to cover wars.

>> journalism is important. without the photographs and videos and experience, you can't really tell the world how bad it might be. >> right. isis terrorists said the murder was retaliation against air strikes against isis in iraq. they're threatening to kill another american journalist seen in the same video. let's bring in steve clemons editor at large for the atlantic and joined by former white house middle east policy adviser and ambassador tomorr morocco. where do we begin with this horrific act? what did tuesday tell us about who tare dealing with? >> first, it tells us the people we're dealing with are true monsters. the second thing you need to understand is that behind james and steve are 40 other

journalist who have been kidnapped in sir yyrisyria. it's happening increasingly globally it's been horrific and horrible. we've had people often on msnbc tell their stories of having escaped. richard engel was kidnapped and barely got out of with his life. the pattern is replicating around the world. >> and you mentioned something, all reports show these thugs, these terrorists, assassins have been collecting and buying hostages from other terrorist organizations and sim pat koe governments. >> right. it gives them leverage. one of the things that the isis terrorists said yesterday while they were killing james foley the life of the other journalists depended upon obama

ea 's next average. they're using these journalists for political leverage and money. we see that isis in particular is living literally off of what it kills in the sense that it is absorbing shaking down businesses, kidnapping people, and ransoming them. >> ambassador, we may be hearing from president obama on this today. video of him authorizing u.s. air strikes in iraq was shown in the terror video. what does he need to say to the audience not only here in the united states but around the world. >> the most important thing, he needs to say that the united states is not going to shirk from the responsibilities to ultimately target and defeat isis. there had been the proclivity within the administration, the obama administration to pretend that isis was a localized threat. now we have direct evidence of the assassination of a terrific journalist, who i had known when

i was involved in the early days of trying to help out in syria, and writing about syria. he was a courageous man. let's not loose sight of the fact that whatever the president says, there are other journalists, as steve rightfully points out are being ransomed and held for ransom. the most important thing the president can say is isis not only a threat to the iraq and syria but now to the united states. he needs to be able to develop a strategy. the idea he's consistently late for the train in developing a strategy against isis is why we are where we're today. it's not just the united states' responsibility, jose. it's the responsibility of other countries in the region. and just -- >> responsibility of people who don't do anything about this because they live very near to this. many people like, for example, the u.k., we're going to talk about foreign minister who says that maybe the person who carried out the execution was british.

he certainly had a british accent. the governments and countries don't do anything. why is it our responsibility to always do something and now they're killing americans? >> i couldn't agree more. look, it is not our sole responsibility to handle this. jose, it took how many months if are saudi cleric, just the other day, to denounce isis. >> the first time they mentioned it. >> it amazing to me countries that are in the region who, by the way, are fuelling this because they're sunnis and they're providing money to a country like kwqatar. it's this type of failure in foreign policy. if you're angry about this and your viewers are angry.

can you imagine how many people allies in the region wondering why there's not more leadership coming out from the countries to defeat isis which is a threat to them. >> i want to talk about the issue. the person narrating the execution videos apparently speaks fluent english and the u.k.'s foreign minister suggested he might be british. what do we make of that? >> i tweeted out a picture of james foley of him as a handsome, intelligent man and saying this is the picture that people should send around. it was tweeted and retweeted many thousands of times around the world last night. i had an experience where isis advocates and they began retweeting back to me. when i got on last night and began looking at their networks, people who had signed up. you see very, very large networks of people throughout the middle east who are supportive of, applauding, and basically in an internet sense in broad daylight supporting the

monstrous things isis is doing. it raises the broader question is where is the moral punctuation point. not just from qatar, kuwait, the saudis. they are worried they have seen what happened inside the middle east. many of them, on the private side more than the government been applauding what isis has been doing as a check against iran's interest. that's why it's very important that as we look at the microincidents that put a human face on this horror, we realize that this ultimately can't be solved unless we get responsible, behavior from players on both sides of the sunni shia divide that say what is happening is abhorrent. that money flowing to the people will create consequences for those providing the money. that's what needs to happen. i agree we mark. it's happening in broad daylight. the twitter networks get on and look at -- >> they're horrific.

>> we need to call these people out and call these governments out and we need to have something that proximate mates more of an international action and not only wait for the action to act and react. let's get other people, especially those closer to this to speak out. it seems to difficult to get. steve clemons and ambassador mark ginsburg. thank you very much. i want to finish the segment by saying james foley. we'll go back to ferguson next. children will miss at least a week of school and where the impact goes well beyond the classroom. we'll talk to an educator who has been arrested as part of the protests. next. vo: this is the summer. the summer of this. the summer that summers from here on will be compared to. where memories will be forged into the sand. and then hung on a wall for years to come.

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afterschool program for the north campus education initiative in st. louis and msnbc.com reporter. liz, you work with antonio french and the education project. you've seen the kids on the street and noted they could be your student. what is it look for the younger generation, for those kids. >> i think our kids have been angry about this. i think they feel like their voice is not being heard. so you see a lot of this outlash, especially in the nighttime when some of our kids don't have the appropriate guidance. you see the violence come out from them. their angry with a reason for it. >> yeah. and amanda, we know several of the schools are handing out bagged lunches this week even though schools have been closed. 68% of ferguson students qualify for free and reduced price lunches. there's also real economic impact for parents who need to get child care. are these concerns as you talk to educators? >> yes. these are huge concerns for the

community. particularly because there's no way for parents to really plan in advance. there's no way they could have known these protests would have come about. so they need to figure out child care, many parents need to be at work during the day. don't know what to do with their children while they're not at school. uniq uniquely, we've been seeing several young people on the street in the morning picking up trash from the protest from a day before. it's been a great juice of the community coming together and giving direction for the young people in the day while they're protesting here peacefully out on the street. >> liz, do we have a confirmed date when schools will reopen? >> as of right now, they're saying monday, which means our kids have been out for a total of seven academic days. i couldn't tell you how much that really is a terrible thing for kids. the start of school year is the most important time to get in and get things settled. with all of this unrest, it's going to be a rough start to the school year. >> yeah. it's the start of the school

season. it's going to delay and push back, i imagine, schedules for thousands and thousands of kids. >> absolutely. you know, being a former teacher, i know the first couple of day are the days where you set the procedure. you get to know the kids. all that have has been pushed back. it's pushing back the academic learning. our kid don't have time to waste. education is urgent, especially in the community. >> you've been in the heart of the story. you were arrested. you've seen firsthand what is happening on the street of the ferguson. part of your job is to organize socials between kids and police officers and firefighters. do you see it as a real solution? >> i think that the part of the solution but a real part of the solution is starting to have the conversations. our kids are angry because they don't feel like they have a voice. we need to give them a space where they feel safe and address their concerns and ask the appropriate questions. that comes with training the adults that we're giving them the appropriate training to talk

about these things. these are real life problems. our kids are going to sleep afraid, they're waking up afraid. that is not okay. i can't imagine going to school in the morning and still not being sure what is going to happen to my big brother or my father or anyone in my family. that's really a concern. we need to give our kids the appropriate space to have the conversations in any capacity. >> and, amanda, on top the delays, the teachers have to address the chaos when the school starts. you quoted a middle school principal who said we'll have to be delicate in the way we address it. how can teachers reestablish a normalcy for students after what they've been living through? >> i visited the first day of school at normandy high where michael brown went to the last year of school. they opened on monday and many ergts i spoke with said they need to find a way to channel any type of aggression or strong feelings that these young people are feeling and channel it into

an educational learning opportunity for them to understand how to protest properly, how to do so peacefully, and also how to deal with their feelings. now they're bringing in connell alrea -- counselors into the school. but really the challenge is how are these teachers going to diffuse any type of tensions in the classroom while also giving a nurturing environment for them to learn. >> and i think it's so important we teach our kids the importance of being a part of the democratic process of making a change through the vote and that is something i think we as a community throughout the country have to focus on our children's well being and future through democracy. amanda and liz, thank you both for being with us this morning. we're going it take a short break. but we're going to show you extraordinarily devastating flooding in the west where the unbelievable pictures were

taken. listen to this. this was in arizona a round of heavy storms could be on the way. we'll have a live report next. look at those images. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. four years ago mike started seeing more and more paddle borders on the rivers and lakes in his hometown of bend, oregon. wanting to ride the wave of the trend. he opened stand on liquid. a paddle board retailer and manufacturer. he hasn't had down year since. if i can impart one lesson to a new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something.

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heavy storms are expected later this week in the arizona desert after raging flood rip through the phoenix area. it was an incredible scene as mud and water turned the desert into a disaster zone. all within a few hours the flooding destroyed everything in the path and forced dramatic rescues. we are live in new river, arizona. it's a destructive event. it kind of came in a flash. >> really. what we're talking about now is the cleanup. this is a kind of cleanup they're dealing with. the mobile home thrown 50 feet into a tree. other mobile homes were tossed down the river and nowhere near where they started. you have cars up-and-down the washes and creeks that are us l

usually dry, by the way, sticking out the mud. it was an incredible sight. they're used to monsoons but not like this. everybody said the same thing. they have never seen a monsoon like this. so much rain in a little time almost as much rain in a few hours as some parts of the state get in an entire year. >> incredible. and it caused dramatic rescues. you're saying that even though they've had these things in the past, something of this level was truly unexpected? >> really. i've been with these swift water teams before. not here but california. they prepare for the stuff all time. this had to be extraordinary. they probably never did it on this scale here. we saw them dropping out of helicopters on top of homes. we saw them swimming to one van and the next van and then to the next. they were one after another. these are very dramatic rescued.

we talked to people who barely meat made it out. one a 60-year-old woman who barely escaped. the cleanup is going to be brutal. >> thank you very much for that live report. from flooding to fires. let's zoom through some of today's top stories. a pair of wild fires out west are threatening hundreds in california. east of bakersfield it's grown to 3300 ache perhaps the fire is 5% contained. further north officials are happy to report that jux fire that erupted near yosemite national park is 35% contained and not expanded as much as they feared it would. some of the more than 1,000 residents who had to be evacuated are able to return home. there's been a peaceful resolution to the hostage situation in a chicago suburb. two women and two kid have been released unharmed by hostages

that broke into the house tuesday afternoon. the suspects took the hostages as police began to arrive at the home. the men initially took six children and two adults hostage. four of the children were released yesterday including an 11-year-old who helped negotiators bring an end to the situation. a hospital in california is currently treating a patient who may have been exposed to the ebola virus. the sacramento area medical facility will share blood samples with the cdc to evaluate whether the person was infected. in new mexico a woman who traveled to syria leon is being tested for the results out of precaution. immigration activist is leading a group of 11 undocumented immigrants in a plan to apply for deportation referr referral. a move in an effort to expand a 2012 deferral program created for young people broug to the u.s. as children. the group hopes the president will use executive action soon

to slow down deportations for some of the 11 million undocumented immigrants that live in the united states. texas governor rick perry looking dapper in his mug shot after turns himself in tuesday. indicted last week on two felony charges on abuse of power after vetoing millions in state funds from the texas public integrity unit. accused of vetoing the funds in an attempt to pressure a democratic district attorney into resigning after she plead guilty to drunk driving charges. refused to step down after the release of embarrassing jail surveillance video from the night she was arrested. perry's lawyers played the video in the news conference. aids made an ice cream run and tweeted a photograph of that. >> coming up we'll go back to ferguson. something unprecedented is happening. first time in america. we'll tell you what it is. in seconds.

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unprecedented that is how the arrival of amnesty international on the scene in ferguson, missouri has been described for an organization we're used to seeing in places like afghanistan, zba, or africa. why are they there? what drew the international organization to the city for the first time ever? the executive direct eor joins now. what is it that drew amnesty international to the scene? >> obviously, the situation in ferguson was very concerning for us from the beginning. with the situation around the shooting and then the situation around the protest. we wanted to come in and make sure that, you know, all of the sort of human rights, you know, that the human rights of the protesters aren't being violated and we can come in and use our national and international

leverage to call for investigations into the shooting of michael brown. >> what have you seen? >> we've seen a lot, you know. we've seen a lot of peaceful protesters coming out and wanting to be heard in their community. you know, we've seen a few just a few folks that were kind of disrupting those protests, amnesty international is really, you know, calling for the police to work with those crowds in a way that makes sense so the bad behavior of a few doesn't affect the right of many to peaceful protest here in ferguson. >> we have video shot showing intense moments from amnesty international and the police from monday night. what is the role of the observers been on the ground? >> sure. so the role of the observers is to walk around and, you know, meet with people in the context of the protest and outside the protest as well. what we're doing is we're

looking, seeing, observing, documenting, interactions between police and protesters here on the ground. >> and how long are you going to be on the ground? >> we got on the ground last thursday. how long we're going to be on the ground depends on what the situation is like here. and, you know, the other thing that is happening on the ground that is important to note there's an amazing amount of organizing and leadership that is happening here. our role on the ground in addition to observing is working to support that and elevate those voices and stories. the leadership here has been tremendous and the situation in ferguson would be in a much more dire situation without the organizers and leadership from the faith communities, social justice, racial justice groups around here in the area. >> yeah. the situation would be far different. also, if there was more participation in the democratic process there and people should know their voices need to be heard come election time. i think it's important we also

underline the need to participate in change because that is the way that the future is going to be better than the past. amnesty international's raef l oh leery. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having me. that wraps up this hour on msnbc. thank you for the privilege of your time. next on "newsnation." tamron will talk to john conyers pushing for a congressional hearing on the use of excessive police force in the wake of michael brown's death. woooo.

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what are you doing? we're switching car insurance. why? because these guys are the cheapest. why? good question. because a cut-rate price could mean cut-rate protection. you should listen to this guy. with allstate you get great protection, a great price, plus an agent! and safe drivers can save up to 45%. call now and see how much you can save. just a few more ways, allstate is changing car insurance for good. call an allstate agent and get a quote now. good morning, everyone. i'm tamron hall. this is "newsnation." we're following developing news out of ferguson. attorney general eric holder is set to arrive and meet with the federal investigators looking into michael brown's trip. he promised a fair and thorough investigation in the st. louis post dispatch saying, quote, the

core of these demonstrations is demand for answers about the circumstances of this young man's death and a broader concern about the state of our criminal justice system. also today, a grand jury will begin hearing evidence in the case. the st. louis county prosecutor said officer darren wilson will be given the chance to testify. the president of the police union in missouri spoke with my colleague about the case. >> do you think there's been a rush to judgment here? >> i think there's definitely been a rush to judgment. i think it was irresponsible to call for vigorous prosecution. we're all for a vigorous investigation, but -- when we talk about justice. we want justice for all concerned. i'm concerned that darren wilson received due process. >> holder's arrive cool comes after a quieter night in ferguson compared to what we've seen over the past few