u.n. committee meeting in geneva based on police brutality and racism. at ferguson city council meeting residents said little has been done in the past three months to ease racial tensions. community groups are offering nonviolent, civil disobedience training and a list of guidelines they want police and the prosecutor to follow. >> we also request bob mccullough share the date of the grand jury verdict. when the announcement is made, there's no amount of voices going to keep people from initially taking to the street. governor nixon should compel the prosecutor to cooperate. elected officials should compel chiefs of police to comply with sensible and proper rules of engagement that will allow them to concentrate first on people engaged in negative behavior. >> ferguson mayor james knowles

previewed the new approach saying the police response will be more mobile and reactive versus the use of armored vehicles and police and riot gear we saw previously. we'll see what governor nixon says about all of this in just a moment. msnbc national reporter trymaine lee is back from ferguson. he's been covering all of this for msnbc.com. former nypd police officer eugene o'donnell, professor of law at john jay law. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> so, you're recently back from ferguson in the past couple of weeks. you know, a lot of the national cameras have kind of moved on, but what is the mood still on the ground there? >> people are very concerned. a few days ago i spoke with the cousin of michael brown who said police are preparing for war and not preparing for a trial. the concern is that as local law enforcement prepares and buying

weapons and preparing for what could be the worst case scenario, the actual idea of a trial is lost. that's a foregone conclusion there already will be no indictment. >> even before that moment, even before this moment, protests have been ongoing. national media has moved on from the ferguson story but protests have been going on consistently throughout this whole period, right? >> certainly. almost on a nightly basis, groups, dozens at some point, are gathering outside the ferguson police headquarters demanding justice for michael brown. >> professor o'donnell, this is what ty pruitt, the cousin and spokesperson for brown family, had to say today. said the police are getting ready for war when they should be getting ready for a trial. that to me means they have already made their decision. what do you make of that? and is that from what you're hearing the sense on the ground from a lot of the people? >> it's impossible to predict what's going to happen, even though it seems it's -- i think the law is obviously very favorable to the police just

generally. that's generic in every situation, no matter how it's viewed outrageously from outside the grand jury room. which really gives the impetus why we need police reform to engage in real serious structuring of police discretion so if people are engaging people for walking in the street, there is compelling reason for doing that. it's important to focus on this instant case but time is of the essence in ferguson, and probably in hundreds of communities across the country, that are in a similar kind of situation where the police are going one direction and the community is going another direction. hopefully, regardless of the outcome here, there's an urge urgeurgent urgency to fix this department, which is acknowledged to be broken, which kaulz called in the justice department, which asked for outside help. one can only hope the department will be transparent and will listen to the lessons of other departments and will reach out for experts from around the

country that have dealt with these issues of civil disobedience comes to the fore, that there be real good training for how to deal with people, exercising their legitimate first amendment rights. >> professor o'donnell, we're reading these reports out of ferguson that there's been an up tick in gun sales. and it seems as though people are bracing for this big moment that's going to come. what is the message within the law enforcement community that goes out when you are trying to anticipate a large scale moment like this. upticking in gun sales, hostilities on both sides. it could be a potential for a situation that gets out of control real quick, real soon. >> legitimacy of the ultimate decision by the grand jury, legitimacy of the police is at the heart of this, otherwise you end up, you know, with a nation with the george zimmerman effect that everybody arms up and takes the law into their own hands. we need a predictable system. we need the outcome here to be explained regardless of how the

outcome is arrived. there should be some explanation about this, some background. the community should be treated with respect. there should be more transparency. arguably the grand jury is not at all the way to do this because we've seen these selective leaks and piecemeal information and the prosecutors probably should have stepped up and been much more willing to explain not only the law but the facts. so, even if there's disagreement with the ultimate outcome, folks can understand why the law is so favorable and why that creates an urgency for this reduction that we need to see in these police/citizen contacts. there's so many adversarial contacts in ferguson and other places over trivial events that fall on minority of americans. we need to have reforms, otherwise the lesson of ferguson, you know, goes missing. >> indeed. trymaine, pick up on that point a bit. what are the specifics you're hearing from folks on the ground, frustrated with in terms

of the way this process has uj folded. >> from the very beginning, the prosecutor didn't have to convene a grand jury. he could have charged him himself. but then after that what is typical in these kind of cases, vuld a couple law enforcement experts that would break down what's what for the grand jury. then have you the prosecutor say here are some suggested charges. we're thinking a manslaughter, high-degree manslaughter or murder. for police murder charge is difficult but they would have laid out charges that are possible. and then the grand jury, you would have walk the them step by step. here in this case they fed the grand jury piecemeal every bit of evidence as they received it without much guidance. then the prosecutor said, i'm going to give them every single piece of evidence and then let them decide. >> we're waiting for the governor to come out and address the nation. let's join in "cycle" regular jonathan capehart. >> hi, toure, krystal, abby.

there have been incidents similar to this, but what made this bigger is the town erupted in massive protests for day after day and some protests got extraordinarily violent. this issue, and i think that this will be lost in whether or not there's an indictment, this issue is bigger than what happens to michael brown and darren wilson when people were protesting about the unequal application of justice in ferguson using the police officers to extract taxes basically from the citizens and then the overmilitarization of the police when the citizens came out to protest. >> exactly. when situations like that happen in ferguson or what happened in, say, new orleans after katrina, there's the igniting thing that sets people off. and then as time goes on and people dig deeper, you find out there's something bigger going on here. and you touched on the various things that were -- the bigger things that were going on in

ferguson. the idea of the police basically being a tax collection agency where people, particularly in overwhelmingly african-americans, people of color, who were being pulled into, sucked into the criminal justice system for nonpayment of parking tickets and other court fines. my colleague at washington post has written about the fines and taxes and also the militarization of the police. i think a lot of americans were shocked and appalled to see what happened in ferguson after the killing of mike after brown. seeing members of an american police department training guns on american citizens, exercising their right to protest. sitting in sniper's nests, aiming their guns at people. snatching gam ining cameras an tear gas at members of media, whose job it is to tell the

story, that is guaranteed under our constitution. freedom of the press. so, what's happened in ferguson is something that i think really g as you said, toure, beyond just the killing of michael brown and police killing of another unarmed african-american male, but something that struck deeper to who we are as americans and how we think our police departments, our public officials should separate and behave in a time of emergency. >> trymaine, regarding what we mentioned earlier here on the selective leaks that went to a few national newspapers about this -- >> luke, let me cut you off. governor jay nixon right now. >> good afternoon. for those of you here from out of state, my name is daniel issam. since september 1st i've been the director of the missouri department of public safety.

previously i was chief of police for the st. louis metropolitan police department. and most recently, a professor in the criminalology and criminal justice department at the university of missouri-st. louis. i made the decision to join the department of public safety ten weeks ago because of the critical issues that were before all of us in law enforcement. and because of the opportunity to make a difference in the community. my community, where i grew up and where my family and i make our home. but also key to joining dps was the promise that governor nixon gave me. he told me he was committed to bringing people together, to establishing missouri as a model

for improving relations between police and the community we serve. he understood that this was not simply a law enforcement issue. and he was committed to more than simply getting through a crisis situation. he was committed to confronting issues that had simmered below the surface in american society for too long. that's why i signed up. and that's why all of us are here and committed to accomplishing that end. it is my honor to introduce the 55th governor of the state of missouri, jay nixon. >> thank you, dan. we are tremendously fortunate to have someone with director issam's law enforcement

experience and academic credentials leading the department of public safety 37 we're also joined today by chief sam dotson of st. louis police department, chief bechlt elmer, captain ron johnson of missouri state highway patrol, brett johnson, major of field operations for missouri highway patrol, and commander of our missouri state highway patrol. as governor of the most important part of my job is keeping the people of missouri safe. families must be able to see their kids off safely to school in the morning, walk their neighborhoods at night, and keep the doors of their businesses open without fear for their lives or property. citizens must also have the right to express themselves peacefully without being threatened by individuals intent on creating violence and disorder.

in the days immediately following michael brown's death, peaceful protests were marred -- vandals smashed the windows of small businesses. criminals looted and set fire to stores. gunshots and molotov cocktails endangered citizens, exercising their first amendment rights and law enforcement attempting to maintain peace. that ugliness was not representative of missouri and it cannot be repeated. the st. louis county prosecutor has not announced the exact date the decision will be made, only that it will be in mid to late november. u.s. department of justice is also conducting both civil and criminal investigations. that is why we have been working around the clock to prepare to keep the residents and businesses of st. louis region safe regardless of the outcome of the parallel local and

federal investigations. officers from the missouri state highway patrol, st. louis county police and st. louis city police will operate as a unified command to protect the public. the national guard has been and will continue to be part of our contingency planning. the guard will be available when we determine it is necessary to support local law enforcement. dwight simply, we must and will be fully prepared. law enforcement planning efforts also include coordination with fire service, ems and other services that may have to respond. law enforcement agencies are -- while patrol will be bringing in officers from across our state to provide support as needed to local jurisdictions. the department of public safety has distributed additional equipment to make sure the agencies involved can communicate effectively with each other. these measures are not being

taken because we're convinced violence will occur but because we have a responsibility to prepare for any contingency. the public demands and i demand that. this coordinated effort will be guided by our core principles. keeping the public safe while allowing people to speak. this is america. people have a right to express their views and grievances. but they do not have the right to put their fellow citizens or their property at risk. over the past two months more than 1,000 law enforcement officers have gone through more than 5,000 hours of specialized training. with an emphasis on protecting the constitutional rights of -- have spent the last few months going into the community, to churches, schools, businesses, to listen to people's concerns and develop strategies to specifically address them.

we also continue to have productive conversations with faith, civil rights and protest leaders about concrete ways that we can facilitate peaceful pregnancy while maintaining public safety. with these shared principles comes a shared expectation that peaceful protesters, community leaders and clergy will work with law enforcement to identify individuals intent on causing violence and committing crimes so that law enforcement may address those individuals in order to protect public safety. as i've said before, violence will not be tolerated. the residents and businesses of this region will be protected. with that i'd like to turn it -- with us today represents thousands of law enforcement officers here in the st. louis region who have been working day and night in difficult and often

dangerous circumstances to keep the peace and protect the public. first let me introduce the chief of the st. louis metropolitan police department, chief sam dotson. >> good afternoon. thank you, governor nixon, for your leadership and commitment to the people of the st. louis region and to maintaining peace. the narrative that started in ferguson in august is still being written and we as a region have the ability to impact that in a very positive way we all acknowledge the public has trep tagss but we in law enforcement are committed to serving and protecting, no matter what the circumstances. this is not just an assurance that we in leadership are make making to the community. it's a commitment that all of our officers are making to the community. police officers recognize that peaceful protesters are exercising -- determined to

protect that right but criminal actions, acts of violence will not be tolerated. police officers have been in intense situations and they did their jobs professionally and with -- i've seen it firsthand, countless citizens shaking the hands of police officers and for keeping them protected. we know when the grand jury is announced, emotions will be high. we don't want to repeat what happened in august. that will threaten the real gains being made throughout the st. louis community. we know the vast majority of protesters are peaceful,

reasonable people. and we are meeting with those groups to ensure they have the right to have their voices heard. while at the same time, protecting all of us from violent, criminal acts. as the governor said, violence from a view will not be tolerated. that is our commitment to the people we serve, to the demonstrators and to the law enforcement community. thank you. >> we've been listening to governor jay nixon and chief dotson of the st. louis police department. let's bring in eugene o'donnell, trymaine lee, and best selling crime author, patricia cornwell, who spent years covering crimes. thank you for being back with us. trymaine, your big takeaways there. one of the big pieces is the fact that the national barred is part of the contingency plann g planning. that seems to me the headline here. >> what will strike a chord

among those who have been protesting for 90-plus days, the governor said above all safety of the residents and citizens is paramount. they would say, what happened to michael brown's safety? it wasn't necessarily looters, it was tear gas and rubber bullets, so undoubtedly people will wonder, well, who are you protecting? are we or are we not citizens as well exercising our first amendment right? >> ms. cornwell, i'm interested in your take as to why the governor would preemptively do this type of press conference? the governor said specifically, we're not doing this because we think a ruling will happen but because we sort of want to be safe. this isn't the standard sort of protocol, is it? is it to put in the public's mind, don't act up? >> i think there's knowledge about what the grand jury probably will find in terms of one of the things that has to be looked at here particularly are the injuries of the victim, with michael brown, what the autopsy

said, what forensic science is saying. for example, does the police officer involved have injuries that might indicate he really was fearing for his life or not have those kind of injuries, those photographs and that documentation should have been taken at the get-go. you know, what about what the medical examiner -- of course, there's more than one of them in this case. what's really sad about this to me, i don't think anyone will trust any of these results at this point because the people now believe no one will tell them the truth and that people are protecting officials. that's what's really tough. >> that's the reason you jump out and have this type of press conference because there's going to be so much distrust in the community regarding whatever is found. >> i think there will be distrust. when so much time has passed and you don't trust government officials and you don't believe your loved ones are being protected, with an unjust homicide, these do come from government officials, medical

xaers, and although i would trust the autopsy report if i got to see it, if you don't believe it as a citizen, then have you a major problem. results don't mean anything. >> you made the point we need to trust science. if you trust science, then justice will follow that. >> science will tell the truth in this case as much as the truth can be known. people don't trust maybe the results they're getting are accurate. the results -- you do tests in a lab, those results are only as good as the infalability of the evidence. if people have done things properly. i think we have so much distrust, so much anger, this is so emotional now that the science may not necessarily be regarded. one hopes the grand jury will trust the science, but i'm not sure the people are going to accept whatever those results are at this point. >> professor o'donnell, i was waiting to hear them say that they wanted to protect the safety of those who would be or might be protesting. they did say that they did make that point several times, that they wanted to protect people's rights to protest. but almost spinning off what

luke said, i wonder if this preemptive press conference sort of endangers the police in a way, seth sending a message to the citizenry, we expect you to be wild, we expect you to protest, and we're telling you ahead of time, don't do that. that sort of guilds the lily, in a way. do you hear any of that message? >> a part i don't like is the police being used as shields and foils for a broken political system. that i don't like. the tax structure, obviously, in the state is a disaster. we -- when you're funding municipalities by law enforcement. and the governor could step up and say something about that. that's although the roolt of that. the idea these are simply law enforcement issues is very misleading. but i do hope, you know, it's important to emphasize violence in this community would be a disaster and it should be discouraged. any hope of economic development, any hope of long-term stability in the community would be undermined by any kind of violence. and, you know, should be unequivocal statement that that's not helpful. in the meantime, political

establishment appears to continue to be running for cover there rather than fixing the fundamental issues at the core of the ferguson type that we have in so many parts of the country. >> and jonathan, obviously, this press conference is in conjunction with the idea that the grand jury process will be completing soon. but it's also important to keep in mind there is a separate federal department of justice investigation into potential civil rights violations. do you get the sense that folks in ferguson and across the country are watching the results of that investigation as closely as they are? what's going on with the grand jury? >> certainly. and we don't know much about what the justice department investigation is doing and what they're uncovering. we know that they were out there in august. we know attorney general eric holder went there. but unlike the local police force, which has been leaking like a sieve, the federal investigation, there hasn't been a lot to come out of it other than we know they are there. i think a lot of people in

ferguson, trymaine, correct me if i'm wrong, they'll be looking to the justice department for some clarity and legitimacy. i think mr. o'neill is exactly right, and also ms. krcornwell, the legitimacy of the politicians there and the public officials there is in tatters. remember that night, it was a wednesday night, when tear gas was flying, journalists were being arrested, journalists had television equipment taken down, rubber bullets were flying, tear gas was flying, citizens were being arrested. none of the public officials were out there trying to put a lid on the situation, trying to put a face out there to show calm. not ferguson police chief thomas jackson, not ferguson mayor james knowles, certainly not governor jay nixon. and so all of that, the fact that they were not there at the height of the crisis, i think, feeds into the question of legitimacy here. and i think also raises the importance of that justice

department investigation. but i think a lot of people have to keep the mind here that federal -- federal charges, a federal civil rights charges and other federal charges, it's a very high bar. a very high bar to meet. just as in the trayvon martin case, that there was a very high bar for the federal government to meet to file civil rights charges against george zimmerman. the same thing here is, you know, pertains in the case of officer darren wilson. so, you know, the people of ferguson, the political structure in ferguson, they have a lot of work to do. and i don't think governor nixon did a good job of soothing fears, soothing people for this division, whatever it is, to come down. the one thing i found quite odd, and i think everyone's hit on it, this message sending to protesters, i thought that this -- thought that the comments by mr. dotson and the

comments by governor nixon, they should have come from -- they should have been swapped. i thought mr. dotson's comments were broader, more soothing in recognizing that the people of ferguson had legitimate beefs and concerns and they should be taken into account. and governor nixon, on the other hand, took this sort of hard line, to my view, hard line sort of we're going to protect businesses and we're going to protect people and people come here to protest and incite violence, we'll take care of you. we're waiting for you. not the right message to send, sp especially after what we've seen in august. >> we heard from governor jay nixon and he said it was a top priority to make sure the business community, residential community, are safe. those are words they to want hear. you've spent a lot of time on the ground in ferguson. you're going back tomorrow. is that how people feel, do people feel safe?

>> certainly not. going back to what jonathan said, the message that could have been said to ease the concerns of those trying to exercise their first amendment rights, jonathan also mentioned hurricane katrina. i was there. i remember victims of the flood getting shot at for trying to go over to safety. being treated like animals, being treated like criminals. that's the fear here. inherent fear of hundreds of black people massing to protect themselves? while it's important to send a message to business owners and residents, we're here to make sure your lives and property are protected as protests go on, but what about those taking the streets because at the beginning of this it was about the life of an unarmed man. >> we heard jay nixon talk about the balance and that people have the right to express what they feel, of course, through the first amendment. thank you all so much. really appreciate your help on this today. >> thanks, krystal. >> we have lots of other news to get to today, including the major winter storms that are

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might not seem so big after all. ♪ bitter blast, arctic assault, pick your cliche. winter has made an early arrival for about two-thirds of the country. the coolest guy we know there, raffy is here with the forecast. how cold is it going to get? >> it's going to get really cold. we went from summer yesterday to winter today in some parts of the country. we'll get to the maps here in the weather center. it's one thing to talk about it but it's quite a contrast. in the northeast we have temperatures in the 60s. it's really t-shirt weather but they are dealing with an intense blast of wintry temperatures across the midwest and the plains. this is yesterday. now, take a look at these high temperatures. summer still in effect in

amarillo. 80 in oklahoma city. now today. this is the 24-hour temperature change. how much temperatures have dropped from yesterday to today. you see this purple color here. that shows you how far the temperature has fallen. so, kansas city, 35 degrees colder than yesterday at this time. this hole around amarillo, the computer -- this is off the scale. no color can get this cold. it's almost 50 degrees colder in amarillo than yesterday at this time. a major blast. amazing the con frast from one day to the next. the windchills are brutal. feels like 13 below zero in rapid city. way too early for this type of cold. feels like 30 in chicago. feels like 6 in fargo. feels like 11 degrees in minneapolis. now, the good news is, the major snow is winding down for the most part. we still have a lot of snow to get through for the u.p. of michigan. we can see up to a foot and a half there. the major cities spared, mchls quieter, chicago rain is moving through but otherwise no problems. but this is the problem. minneapolis extended forecast, 20s right into the weekend.

probably into early next week. unfortunately, this cold blast does have staying power. detroit, this was your last warm day, 60 today to 30s into the weekend. fortunately, no major storms for the upper midwest. a look at tomorrow, 63 in new york city. maybe a shower or two, warm in florida and the southwest. here in the northeast, tomorrow that's it, then back down to the 40s. not as bone-chilling as akroz the rockies and plains and minute west. it will be chilly and you'll notice a big difference heading into the weekend. looks like into next week as well, tracking a chance for snow sunday into monday, even here around new york city. we'll keep a close eye on that throughout the next few days. >> we love you. not loving that news. on this veterans day we're giving thanks to military veterans for their service to our country. vice president biden paid

tribute at arlington national cemetery laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. >> you are the veterans of america, the most trusted among us. and the most tested of all americans. collectively, you represent generations of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen who have served and sacrificed for all of us. you are not only the heart and soul, but you are the very spine of this nation. >> those words hit close to home. one of the proudest moments of the huntsman family is when my two brothers joined the navy. today especially makes me think of the sacrifice they are making and all the ones that came before them as we honor those who serve, we also need to remember their loved ones who are in many ways making sacrifices, too. a few weeks ago i was honored to spend some time with one of the gold star families that forever

changed the meaning of veterans day for me. ♪ >> they were so much alike in so many ways. >> reporter: comrades and best friends, now side by side at arlington national cemetery. >> they pushed each other a lot to be better. >> reporter: navy s.e.a.l. brendan loony and marine lieutenant travis manning was roommates at naval academy. they were inseparable, two peas in a pod. travis was sent off to serve in iraq. he was tragically cut down by a sniper in 2007. best friend brandon loony was understandably devastated. >> he was a great friend. >> reporter: three years later, loony, too, was killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. retired marine colonel tom m mannion is travis' father. it's the title of his book "a tribute to those who made the

ultimate sacrifice". >> they were willing to take whatever risk to go forward and make a difference. >> reporter: the type of bravery and service that inspires all of us to be a little more selfless. >> brotherhood, sacrifice, love of country. >> reporter: when it comes to brotherhood, it's personal, because my own family is now embarking on a journey and my mom is taking it a a day at a time. >> no matter what i do, no matter where i go, i've got them on my mind 24 hours a day. >> reporter: my two brothers and my mom's two boysa academy grads. >> our country is experiencing some frightening times of and they're in it. they're in it to serve. these guys are doing what they feel is best. have you to have faith. this country has become so divided. and i look at our men and women in the military and they are not going to ask what party their president is. they are going to serve their country regardless.

>> reporter: are you worried they won't come back at all? >> you know, i have a peace about it. i really do. when john left, i have, you know, those moments you do as parents where you try to think, how do i get through this? >> reporter: my brother's fiancee, morgan, is also learning to adapt. >> it really makes you cherish every single moment you have together and appreciate life and what it's about and veelgsships and family. >> it gives me strength to know they're doing what they feel in their hearts is best. it also gives me great confidence in this great country and the men and women we have serving. they are extraordinary men and women and we should be very, very proud. >> reporter: two sets of brothers and two different families, who share one singular message, strength, respect, unconditional love and faith.

my brothers, that are ten years behind them, doing their similar things? >> they would thank them and tell them to lead from the front to make a difference. >> well, i don't think i fully digested exactly what my brothers are about to do until i did this piece. it was incredibly humbling to do. travis, before he was sent out for his second deployment, his family, i think they were around the table at dinner and his uncle said i want to trip you so i can injure you so you can't leave. he said, no, if it's not me, then who? my brothers often say, we aren't the heroes. we haven't left. we haven't done anything yet. but that's what it's about, these men and women that wake up every single morning knowing they could be called to serve that day and they are willing and able to go. >> abby, i think it's fair to say they will downplay the fact that they are heroes but definitely heroes among us for raising their hand and actually

making the effort to put themselves in harm's way. and that is something that -- it's really easy, i like to say, to stand up in the seventh inning of a baseball game and clap your hands and cheer on "god bless america" but when push comes to shove and actually sacrificing and doing more than putting your flag up on veterans day or memorial day, the fourth of july, that is the hard part. that's why when you do a story like that, not only do i think it resonates people what the sacrifice is, hearing your mother -- >> she's a special woman. >> -- but how humble the rest of us should be for what your brothers are doing, those brothers that passed away earlier are doing, and all the men and women in the armed forces are doing. i become emotional about it because my grandfather served. he used to look upon it as the best moments of his life. sadly, it's something we don't think about as much anymore. it's almost a different class of people. hopefully as we move forward and

this group of veterans comes back, we start to think of them as the whole american fabric, not just the secluded specialized group. >> i think that's really well said. >> abby, had you had this kind of conversation with your mom before? i thought what she had to say was powerful. >> that's a good question. we had never had that conversation as a family and i read the book on the train ride down and i cried my eyes out and i thought, how can i do this interview? i don't think i'll be emotionally be able to get through it. i woke up the next morning and i said, i've got to be strong, i've got to do this interview to tell these stories. and my mom was just so candid. she was so real. that's what i love so much about her. honestly, she's responsible, and my dad, for raising such incredible boys who chose to serve. >> that part with your mom was incredibly powerful, seeing her wrestling with her pride, they volunteered, they have the character enough to put

themselves on the line to protect america. and yet her fear that something might happen. and you said, you know, are you afraid? and she said, well, i've come to peace with it but you could see the tears starting to well up behind her eyes. as a young parent, i can only imagine what it would feel like to let your baby go into war and you're so thrilled they're willing to do it and yet you're afraid they might not come back. it's an amazing piece, abby. congratulations. >> what they all had in common was faith. they put it in god's hands. thank you for taking time to watch that piece. we'll be right back after this. first, a bit more of tribute to our vets at arlington national cemetery. ♪ ok, if you're up there, i could use some help.

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woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child that needs you every moment.

i wouldn't trade him for the world. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. if you're caring for a child with special needs, our innovative special care program offers strategies that can help. the united states and china are going to work together effectively. >> president obama right there underscoring the importance of the u.s./china relationship in his first of two days of talks with president xi. today the two leaders met several times. they took a walk in a garden, had a private dinner and official meeting is planned for tomorrow. that's a stark contrast to the

president's run-in with vladimir putin. they met face to face today for the first time since june. nbc news white house correspondent kristin welker is traveling with the president in beijing. >> reporter: with relations between the united states and russia at one of their lowest moments since the cold war, president obama met with president putin three separate times on the sidelines here at the apec economic summit. those meetings lasting a total of 15 to 20 minutes. white house officials say they discussed a range of topics including iran, syria and, of course, ukraine. >> here now to discuss all things china and global power plays, we have foreign policy magazine's asia editor isaak stonefish. >> thanks for having me. >> put in perspective the import of these meetings between president obama and chinese president xi, put in perspective the import of our relations with china overall. >> these are hugely important

meetings. president obama's first trip to china since 2009, his first meeting with jinping on xi's own territory. and i would say the first meeting president obama has had with chinese president when they're meeting as equals. >> give us a sense of what it would be like to be a fly on the wall at this private dinner between president obama and president xi jinping where the two of them spent quality time alone. anyone who spent time in china knows there are those natural cultural differences. what do you suspect they talked about? does president obama know how to use chopsticks? how do you think it went? >> i think the dinner probably went really well. i would loved to have been a fly on the wall at that dinner as any of these dinners. the difference between xi is he's very comfortable, personable, so i imagine obama and xi were able to develop some rapport. i think the most curious thing i would like to hear is how hard did obama press xi jinping on human rights.

de bring it at all? did he let it slide? i don't think we'll get much clarity on that. >> i bet he's probably big with chopsticks. >> is it in china's best interest for america to remain economically strong? we are basically their best customer, so the strength of us gives them more strength, right? >> that's a good question. i think it's definitely in china's best interest for united states to be strong and to not be a real challenge to china. what the chinese foreign policy is to try to, as much as possible, avoid distractions so that they can focus on the domestic. so as long as the united states economy is strong, it can help keep driving china's economic dro growth. that's much better for china because they don't have to fear an economic slowdown and it can face the myriad of problems it faces domestically. >> i was struck by some analysts over in china who presented this trip through the prism of some of the worries of the chinese if this was a de facto american trip to try to neutralize china.

how well received do you think the bz. >>. >> i think there's a surprising level of mistrust between china and the united states. i think generally america is viewed very, very well by the chinese people and i think through labor law and other forms of freer media in china they will be able to see what obama is saying. that said -- five years ago he gave an interview with a liberal paper in southern china -- this

time . >> greater chance we will see it pass now that republicans are in charge. it was the democrats that had a lot of reticents that would entail in that trade agreement. >> they expect some sort of arrangement to come out of the meetings tomorrow with tbpp. it he locks down a tpp it will be a nice victory for obama to claim. >> we showed a video of putin walking with president obama, described as the coldest

relationship since the cold war. how do you think that is playing out. >> i think it is a distraction to a lot of the other bigger issues. i think whether or not obama talked to putin or not is less important to what she said to japanese leader, they have not met. that is a relationship we should watch, even in america, opposed to obama's relationship with putin. >> they looked very miserable. >> didn't look like they wanted to be there. >> thanks for your insights. stay with us. ♪ ♪

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>> last week's election destroyed more than the democrat majority in the senate it also shattered a number of myths about democrat elite complacentancy, if we pretended we couldn't remember who the president was that the electorate would forget, and the last myth and the one that will doom democrats needs to be busted right here, the ineffit ability of a hillary clinton presidency. we had a number of proxies. they were what senator mark

warner would call radical centric or clinton democrats. none of these clinton dems ran better than the dreaded obama in their states despite their rants against the epa standing shoulder to shoulder with nra and forgot who they it voted for in the last election. the washington post found failing to adjust to new partisan reabilities. realities. >> in his first election to the senate warner won all but six of the 133 counties in the state this time his radicalism made the race so close that his opponent didn't concede until friday. voters sent a clear and unmistakable message this

election and it wasn't that they were in love with the republicans or with their position, the message was that they are sick and tired with the way things have been going and want something different, period, full stop. so voters are screaming change from politics as usual and we're talking about jeb bush-clinton election. we have had wave after wave election, 2006, 08, 10, 14, voters desperately want something different. democrats fail republicans win. republicans fail, democrats win. every other election focused on gridlock. not getting careful clear message. only 36% of voters even bothered to show up this election, lowest in 72 years. you have to actually give them

something to vote for and put someone on the ballot. hillary is trying to define a rational e for her strategy. apparently still needs a strategist to tell her what's it is all about. she may be the next president but we would be wise not to comfort ourselves with the idea she is inevitable. the last two years would be the gold old days. that does it for the cycle, "now" with alex wagner starts right now. ferguson braces for a grand jury decision. it is tuesday, november 11th, and this is "now." missouri officials are bracing for unrest and potential violence in the wake of a decision in the case of police officer who shot and killed unarmed teen michael brown. just a short time ago jay nixon

if held a press conference to prepare for that moment saying, racial tensions should not be under mined by fall out by any decision. >> none of these efforts will yield lasting change if they are under mind by lawlessness and disorder. the world is watching. >> the governor said state and local police will work in a unified command and that violence will not be tolerated with a decision anticipated in mid to late november, activists with the don't-shoot coalition urged police to allow free expression and allow safe zone to protest and also got notice from bob mc-- requesting that b share the date of the announcement and work with the community to create safety zones within areas of likely protests. wh