proceed with a federal civil rights investigation. >> yeah, we want you to rally. but rally in peace. make a statement, but make it in peace. >> cycling right now. "i can't breathe." that's the rallying cry again today as protesters prepare a second night of peaceful marches in response to the staten island grand jury's decision not to indict the nypd officer involved in the choke hold death of eric gardner. and as we come on the air today, new demonstrations about to kick off in new york and down in the nation's capital. they are underway in philadelphia. we don't know what specific evidence was presented to jurors, only that they heard from 50 witnesses and saw 60 exhibits. that is far less than we saw from the ferguson grand jury records. but for anyone who has seen that choke hold, it's extremely emotional situation, especially for the gardner family who spoke out to msnbc in the hours after the decision was announced. >> we still have hope and we still have a fight to fight to get this justice for my husband

because regardless to what, he will not die in vain. >> both gardner's mother and widow say they're determined to get justice. in this case, regardless of your opinion, the grand jury is part of our justice system. one of the big questions raised here is whether that system should be different when an officer is involved. it is the grand debate as we are calling it. we will get to that discussion in a moment. but first, msnbc is standing on the staten island sidewalk where gardner was killed. run us through the details of the response we just got from the d.a.'s request. >> reporter: so just moments ago, i spoke with ben garner, eric garner's father. and i was the first to let him know that a decision had been made. some of the information contained in the grand jury will be released. i told them about the 50 witnesses, the 22 of whom were civilians, there were 60 exhibits. and he said, quite frankly, not one of them stepped up to save my son, so none of it matters. that was his feeling. i spoke with a friend of eric

garner's about the grand jury proceedings and here's what he had to say. >> got 23 people who actually seen clippings of this guy getting murdered. then you see the cop say what he has to say. doesn't take away the fact that what happened, what happened. there was an action, and in that action, someone died. there has to be some type -- someone has to be accountable. >> reporter: and so there we have it. there's a little bit of information come out from the grand jury. no real revelations. and also, nothing to cool the feelings here on the ground where so many watched eric garner die. and countless others saw on video eric garner take his last breath. for a lot of folks, none of this information -- let's take a deeper look at the justice system from the police perspective and the federal level. for that, we are joined by matthew miller, former aide to attorney general holder and vice chair of the national black police association. she's a 27-year veteran police

officer and the president of philadelphia chapter of the nbpa. thank you, both, for being with us. >> thank you for inviting me. >> no one watches this tape and says to themselves, eric garner deserved to die here. you have all walks of life. people of every color, democrats, republicans, libertarians questioning how the justice system could've gotten this so wrong. >> that includes us also. nobody should say that he deserved to die for just such a petty situation. everybody, i'm sickened. >> does that mean you think he should have been indicted? >> he should have been charged with something. because you have a situation where a choke hold is outlawed in your city. and you use it. neglect. we don't think the officer went out there to intentionally try to kill the person. there was some neglect there. you had a person using the

outlaw choke hold, and then somebody dies. there was a medical emergency that nobody paid attention to here. so we're not saying he went out to kill them, but that's what happened. and you used the situation that your department states that you shouldn't use. so there should have been an indictment on neglect if not anything else. >> isn't this a different situation? you've covered this for years now where civil rights charges may go into play after this. >> well, that's the next step. state and local laws are not holding up their end of the bargain of just fairness for everybody. so you have to go to the federal government. most african-americans in this country feels as though that's where they have to go when they have to deal with the justice system. it's a shame because they should be able to do to deal with it in their own cities and states. this proves right now that they can't. >> matt, what's your take on that. >> you know, i think when you

look at these cases, it takes two things to bring indictment. you have to have the will as a prosecutor to bring the case and you have to have the evidence. everyone's seen the evidence in this case. more than enough to support an indictment. and i think what the prosecutor didn't have was the will to bring it. i think you're going to see a different outcome here with the federal review that's going on. different than what you're likely to see in ferguson. in this case, the justice department has the will to bring the indictment and i think they'll have the evidence. and i think at the end of this, they're going to conduct a full, thorough investigation. but i think it's likely in this case, you'll see federal civil rights charges against this officer. >> a lot of serious talk about changing policing in america today. attorney general holder in cleveland talking about the results of a doj investigation which found a pattern of inappropriate excessive force by the cleveland police department. we have mayor de blasio talking about retraining new york police officers to deescalate situations and to not use force whenever possible. but we know that these

situations are not happening an equal amount across the country. they're happening in certain neighborhoods and black neighborhoods and not in other neighborhoods. a lot of police officers in new york have told me there's a level of fear they feel in black neighborhoods they don't feel in other neighborhoods. and that means they act more aggressively, they strike first, they strike harder. they want to make sure they get control of a situation where in other neighborhoods they would allow more latitude. do you think that's a big part of the problem here? >> yes, it is. yes, it is. because anybody in neighborhood can come at you whatever way. whether it's black, white, hispanic neighborhood. i think that's unfair thinking on their part. because if you get lax in another neighborhood where you think somebody's not as aggressive in one neighborhood to the other, then you're likely to get yourself hurt. you need to think this straight through. you can't just decide this neighborhood i'm going to be more aggressive and not in the other. that's why most of the country,

most people of color think they are being treated unfairly when it comes down to police. they have this fear of police, and they shouldn't be. it should not be. so when you say that, you automatically put yourself in a situation where you're going to treat people of color differently. and it shouldn't be that. >> yeah. very strong words there. and, matt, i wanted to get your take on what's going on there right now. we heard from attorney general eric holder today about the findings of that investigation into the cleveland police department and the finding they did engage in a pattern and practice of using excessive force. we know the doj has opened more than 20 of these internal investigations in police departments across the country. i suspect when that -- when those investigations were open, there was no expectation they would become as high-profile as they are now. talk to us about how that changes the work that's being done in the department of justice and whether there was ever that expectation that they would be this high profile. >> yeah, you know, you have to go back to the beginning of the

administration where it took a while to really rebuild the civil rights division. it had been decimated in the previous administration. and we've seen in the last few days why it's so important to have a civil rights division. but the attorney general slowly built it back up, started opening these types of cases, and i think as they've -- as the investigations have gone forward and as we've seen the results become public, what's become clear is that the problem of this type of policing it's not a ferguson problem, it's not a new york problem, not a cleveland problem. there have been investigations that have brought about tough reforms in new orleans and seattle and police departments all across the country. it really is a problem that happens far more than it should across america and it's why we need a strong civil rights department that can come in and investigate these police departments when they're overreacting. and it's not to say they all are. and to institute real serious reforms. >> yeah. and that was the issue just moments ago with mayor de blasio

and commissioner bratton speaking here. let's take a listen to what the mayor said. >> the response by the nypd was the right one. it was smart, strategic, agile. a lot of restraint was shown. when necessary arrests were made. you saw a very peaceful night in new york city despite the frustration and the pain that so many people are feeling, you saw a peaceful protest. you saw a minimum of disruption. give credit to everyone involved, but i particularly give credit to the nypd for having managed the situation so appropriately. >> the mayor there clearly giving credit where he thinks it's due. and also for those of us who follow in ferguson, a clear contrast here in the way that nypd in its work and also obviously credit to many of the protesters, an organized group in what they consider their work coming out last night and

protesting. and we see these images. they were out near a tree lighting ceremony here, they were out in time square. they held what they called a, quote, dye-in in grand central station. all of this and the police trying to keep things calm. how do the police play that dual role here. especially if some of them do feel sympathy with the officer as they go out and try to patrol these kind of protests fairly and uniformly. >> most police are professionals. let's say 95% of them do their job and do it right. and they are law-abiding citizens and go home at night. what they showed here in new york city was restraint. and they know exactly what to do. did you notice, nobody died. even when they had to arrest some people for disorderly conduct. nobody died. they showed great restraints. and i give kudos to new york city police officers, they did a great job last night. >> great point to end on.

thank you both for your time. coming up this hour, we have all of the angles of this developing story covered with guests who know of what they speak. next, representative gregory meeks has been a new york prosecutor. now he serves in congress. we'll ask him what can be done here. plus, no justice, no peace. what is justice here? and is the legal system as it is built to deliver that? the ferguson comparison protests with the same mission weeks apart play out differently in missouri and new york. why was that? and the politics, president obama is striking a slightly different tone this time. but it's an important shift. that's all ahead as "the cycle" rolls on. thursday, december 4th. well, did you know genies can be really literal? no. what is your wish? no...ok...a million bucks!

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welcome back, we are here in the guest spot with a man who knows multiple sides of what happened in these kind of cases like the garner investigation. gregory meeks, also a former prosecutor. good day, congressman. >> good day to you. >> let me start with an important piece you know all about, which is the way that prosecutors have to rely on local police and whether at times that creates the kind of conflict or pressure that we don't want in a fair system. take a listen to a discussion between reverend al sharpton and eric garner's lawyer just last night. >> explain why a federal investigation whether it's ferguson, whether it's cleveland, and i talked to the father of that 12-year-old last night. whether it's staten island. why is this important now. >> we've seen in the cases over the years.

they rely on the police to make their cases. they can't be objective. we've seen that in other cases. it's playing itself out here. and that's why you need an independent review of it. >> is that right? >> it could be. listen, there's big problems here. generally when you have a police officer and a d.a. who feels they don't have the evidence, they p don't take it to the grand jury. they stand up and say, i don't have the evidence and they don't present the case. or, if they're too close, they excuse them, recuse themselves. something went wrong. even in the other cases, i looked at sean bell, a number of other cases, at least there was an indictment in the problem that we had was with the petty jury. here, amazingly, you don't have an indictment where the standard is so low to -- and complete

control by the d.a. when you go into a grand jury room, the d.a. has complete control. he decides what questions. there's no judge there. it's all upon the d.a. in this instance, especially with the videotape, you can't tell me you couldn't have gotten an indictment. and i want to know what took place in that grand jury room because a d.a. can give instructions -- will give instructions to the jury, and those instructions can either urge a jury to either indict or not to indict. >> right. >> and i would like to know what took place here. >> and congressman, we don't know what took place in that room. and we probably aren't going to. we got a selective release of information today with some vague generalities about the grand jury process. what do you make of the fact that unlike in ferguson where we got a full release of information, we know very, very little about what happened here. >> i think that's why as part of

the investigation that the attorney general is conducting that he needs to -- that investigation should also include what took place in the grand jury room and the roles of the d.a.s here as well as in ferguson to see if there was any impropriety in these particular cases, to see if these -- when you look at ferguson when it seems clear there's been a history in the past of the d.a. with a victim of his family and a police officer, there seems to be something that was gone on there. seems like it should have been a case where he recused himself. in new york, you have no idea. and i think the evidence speaks for itself. there should be an investigation. clearly there was a homicide as determined by the medical examiner. there was illegal choke hold against police procedures, and the individual that the police officer, there was a tape that gave you physical evidence of

what took place. if you can't indict with that, then there is a major problem. and clearly, what upsets, you know, you add on top of that that this d.a. had no problem because the only person that is indicted is the individual that took the video -- >> right. >> of the garner situation. it was unbelievable. >> we have to mention. on separate gun charges, not -- >> that's correct. >> nothing to do with it. >> we know that, yes, we have a problem and it is nationwide. it is not about ferguson and staten island. this is coast to coast. we could have this conversation almost any month of the year going back and going forward. we have a nation where black people feel little to no confidence that the police will protect and serve us and that the justice system will back us up if something goes wrong. this is part of how we have two separate societies living in the same nation and not how america's supposed to be. >> well, you're absolutely right. i've said and said often, we are the first country to criticize other countries for human right violations.

you know, here in congress we have resolution after resolution. as soon as we see somebody not being treated fairly. in fact, we still have a -- a embargo with cuba claiming human rights violations. right here in the united states, we have human rights violations. we saw one in staten island, we saw one in cleveland, ohio, we saw one in ferguson, missouri. all within the last 30, 45 days. right here in the united states, that's an issue that we have to deal with. the human rights violations of african-american males in the united states. and it's something that all of us collectively have to do. now, i will say this, what gives me hope when i look at new york city, for example, last night, i look at the protesters, they were black, they were white, they were hispanic. they were asian. so it was people coming together saying, we do not acknowledge what took place in that grand jury room. and so america has to come together, and that's what i'm

hoping happens. that's what took place in the '60s that we had the gains we now have. and we've got to have that kind of momentum and movement to take place now. >> the larger context, i think, are why are police entering into these sorts of confrontations over tiny things in black communities. and i think the reason for that is the war on drugs. and as long as we have that, then we'll have police officers barging into communities attacking people for smaller offenses. how can we get an end to the war on drugs? >> well, let me tell you something, you say that, but if you look at all the statistics currently, heroin now is alive and well. and where heroin use is not in the black communities. you don't see war there, it's a different method of policing in black communities. and i believe, it has to do with some who have fear. i had a young man who works here in the capitol. he came up to me this morning and said, congressman, my

14-year-old son says what happens, i'm afraid of the police and the police are afraid of me. how is this solution going to work? a 14-year-old boy. >> heartbreaking. >> this is where the problem is. >> yeah, that is absolutely heartbreaking. congressman, this broke about 24 hours ago, the decision in the eric garner case. and it's really something everyone here in new york is talking about and really all over the country. you are there on capitol hill. sometimes, you know, it could be in a whole other world. what are you -- what is everyone on the hill talking about today? is this the center of conversation? and if so, how are they talking about it? >> well, you know, i was pleased to see that the speaker, speaker boehner made a statement recently saying everybody deserves the right to know what happened in this case. so that was a good statement from the speaker. i have yet to hear with the exception of one congressman, anyone to come out to say other than that, you know, on a democrat or republican side t t that, you know, we've got to get to the facts here because especially when you see the video.

and so it is the topic of conversation. people do not understand after looking at the video why this has taken place. and so i can tell you that members of the congressional black caucus, we're going to be working on this to do hearings, to go into various places around the country, to work with folks, both on a political basis because ferguson, it's clear, people need to register, need to vote so they can elect their own d.a.s and city council members to have the kind of laws that are important to them. but more importantly, we've also got to make sure that we're working with the justice department and attorney general holder and to make sure that it's all inclusive. you know, unfortunately for african-americans, it is the federal government that we've had to ultimately lean upon. when i think about when i grew up as a child and watched television then and here's why i'm glad you are covering it so much. it was the tv cameras that showed.

and nobody was, no police officer was indicted. no police officer was arrested or anything of that nature. and then people came together because of what they saw. >> yeah. >> i'm hoping that the same thing happens here. >> well, you say that and it goes to some of the conversations we have in these debates. sometimes it gets very in the clouds. you're reminding people why sometimes the federal government's also associated with a real backstop against potential or alleged local abuse. that's part of the story we're going to keep covering. thanks for your time today. and next, in the special coverage, we're doing, the calls for justice have been growing louder. what would justice look like going forward? we're going to put that question to the experts with us as the story broke here just yesterday, civil rights historian and former federal prosecutor, that's straight ahead.

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now let's touch on a few other stories. nasa scrubbed today's launch of

the orien rocket because they couldn't fix an issue with the fuel drain valve. there's only a 40% chance the launch will go off based on the weather forecast. an al qaeda branch in the arabian peninsula says it's giving the u.s. three days to meet its demands or they will kill an american hostage. 33-year-old photo journalist luke summers makes his plea in this video. he was abducted last year in yemen. the video does not list any specific al qaeda demands. but the terror operative who speaks throughout says washington is, quote, aware. the pentagon responded this afternoon noting this person was not present when the u.s. rescued other hostages and related operation last month. and a super soaker continues in california today. parts of the state have received more rain in the past week than they did in all of last year. records are being shattered from san diego all the way north to the bay area. and msnbc meteorologist domenica davis says the deluge is far from over. >> we still have the weekend to

go. and they received all that rain they've had in more than a year. that's san francisco where over 4 inches now and still have some rain to go. here's a look at the satellite. we do have scattered showers in san francisco today. so a little bit of a break. not heavy rainfall, but haf rain is concentrated over phoenix and albuquerque and windchill weather coming in in seattle and montana seeing that winter weather. but here's a look at the forecast for san francisco. rain picks up again on friday. we could see an additional inch, we're dry saturday and sunday, light showers on monday, and then that should really be the end of it for a little bit. here's a look at friday's forecast. and you can see out to the west, phoenix starts to dry out. l.a. still doing okay as far as the rain goes. it doesn't come back until saturday and then we'll see some

showers from seattle all the way down to san francisco. back to you, abby. >> thank you very much for that update. >> no justice, no peace. no racist police. >> no justice, no peace. that is the chant we've been hearing from protesters who have flooded the streets of new york city in the 24 hours following the decision. what is justice? that is the question everyone is asking today. "new york times" editor clay risen and caleb mason are both here with us. you were both here with us when the decision broke yesterday. it was a moment where we all -- it sunk in so quickly. i could speak for myself. i almost felt like i got socked in the stomach. i think many other people feel the same way. i love to ask both of you now that 24 hours have past and you've had time to let it sink in. clay, i'll start with you, have you changed at all in the way you think about this. >> into what might have gone on

into this decision. you start to feel like, you know, the real crime is what's legal. i mean, it's that this actually is sort of more par for the course and it is acceptable. and it is, you know, the kinds of things that grand juries do. they often do give complete deference to a reading of what the intentions of the police were. >> clay, how are you feeling today? caleb? >> yeah, i'm here. again, i remain surprised. i'm surprised the material was not released. i did look at the order that was issued by the court denying the request to release most of the material. i think that's probably appealable. and i think i'd be interested to see if the d.a. decides to pursue this or you guys could file a request. the governor and the state legislature could also act to modify the relevant provision law here that's keeping the

secret. it is a crime to negligently or recklessly use force that results in somebody's death. and that means to disregard a substantial risk. in this case, we seem to have the intentional application of a choke hold, and the officer should have been on notice over the last four years that was likely to pose a substantial risk of serious injury or death. i think the case, you know, could have been charged. could have been indicted. i can't say that i'm, you know, shocked or surprised, certainly, that the grand jury gave some deference to the officer's testimony about his mental state. i think the question is i would have is why that would necessarily make a legal difference. under the negligent homicide statute in new york, it would remain a crime regardless of whether or not the officer intended to cause death. and i don't think anybody has ever suggested that this officer intended to cause the victim's

death in this case. >> yeah. let me jump in. you're hitting on this point. none of the conversation among the legal community here has been about a murder charge, which would be, oh, did you set out to murder him? all the conversation about manslaughter or negligent homicide. today at this hour, we have much more information than we had yesterday because as you mentioned, there is a court order that releases a small amount of information that the d.a. requested. and i got to tell you, looking at this legally, it is odd. what we have now from the d.a. is he says he instructed this grand jury on principles of law and then he cites one statute, and it's not a strangulation statute or criminal obstruction of breathing, which we've reported on, and it's not a manslaughter, and it's not a homicide. the one statute that is listed here in this new order out this afternoon is penal law 35/30. what do you read into this information that the d.a. has put this out and said, he told

about police justification, but we don't know whether they were instructed on those violent crime charges, nor whether he recommended any charge to this grand jury. >> i would be curious to see if the d.a. is going to make another public statement. it appears from the public statement he did release that he does not feel he is authorized to make any other statement except what is in the court order. i think he may not tell us. i would be hesitant to read into this order the conclusion that he did not instruct the grand jury on any other principles of law. i would find that very surprising, indeed. i mean, i think the facts of this case quite evidently would call for an instruction on negligent homicide. and from what i have seen of the statements that have been released so far, i think the -- all the evidence is that the d.a. acted in good faith here and it would -- it would certainly be surprising to me and quite troubling if the grand jury had not been instructed on

that charge. i do hope we find out. >> today in the "new york times," the unsigned group editorial was very strong on this matter. and then there's this sentence. those who seek justice should remain hopeful if skeptical and wary. and my question to you as a "times" man, why should we remain hopeful? we've been seeing this thing happen for generations, not really changes, why would we be hopeful now? >> i can't speak for the editorial board. locally, we have a mayor and, you know, generally a political culture that is very interesting. we've seen de blasio's reaction to this. it's been -- you couldn't have asked more of him over the last 24 hours in terms of how he's responded. >> but it's a national problem. >> no, it's a national problem. and there we also have at least for the next two years a president and an ongoing and hopefully incoming attorney general who are very attuned to these issues. that doesn't mean anything will happen, but if you want the

actor -- if you had to pick the actors to carry that forward, i think we have a good team. >> thank you for today and for yesterday. i feel like we've all gone through this together over the past 24 hours. and coming up, we'll get into the political reaction and what action could result on the hill. but next, one issue, two very zamp different scenes. why protests played out so differently. and it's not a simple answer. (vo) nourished. rescued.

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the death of eric garner. and this happened. >> no peace! >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> hands up! >> we saw anger, outrage and civil disobedience, yes. but no flames, no smoke bombs or destruction despite the fact that announcement came with little warning. and protests were more spontaneous and free form. today the president praised that restraint on both sides. >> i commended him for his words yesterday and the way new yorkers have been engaging in peaceful protests and being constructive. >> so as protesters take to the streets again this afternoon, what made that crucial difference between the scenes that we saw unfold in ferguson and here in new york? alex altman has been covering the ferguson story for "time" and joining us at the table, we have eugene o'donnell, professor of law and police studies at john j. college of criminal justice.

gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. and alex, i wanted to get your take on ferguson first. what are some of the specific flash points that people have spoken with you about? i know one thing that we've heard from the community several times is the horror of seeing michael brown's body left in the street for so many hours and couple that with years and decades of sort of simmering tension. what are some of the flash points specific to ferguson that you saw there? >> well, i think you hit the nail on the head. i think the images of seeing his body laying out on the street for such a long time loaded into the back of an unmarked car left people kind of indelibly scarred. and it called up a lot of simmering frustrations and in the words of sort of dozens of people i spoke with their own encounters with police. for mothers, they can say that this could have been their son. for young men, they could have said this could have been their brothers. i think it touched a nerve here. like new york, most of the

protests were quite peaceful. you saw these spasms of violence and destruction that have colored the way that everybody looks at this. >> absolutely, eugene. a lot of peaceful protesting in ferguson and spasms of violence. last night here in new york, and there was some video of moments where there would be tension between officers and civilians and then the officers would back off or know how to get the civilians to back off. seems a big reason why new york was so different than ferguson is because of how police responded. they didn't come in, overmilitarize, they weren't tear gassing folks. the way police respond didn't dictate what happened in the protest. >> this is a department that does this all the time. has the numbers, the leadership, the equipment. a whole process they use to engage people. and also, i think everybody last night, first thing you notice, it does look like the city, it's a representative group of people. you'll see community affairs people up in the front and there's an ability to engage people.

there's no magic formula here, there's no guarantees. this is a department that is very good at this stuff. they've been doing it for a long time. so far, so good. >> there's been some divergence between what commissioner bratton has emphasized and then what the police union have said here. i think some of the union statements have not been helpful. they have operated from a premise that basically no officer can do any wrong. and despite the video, i think what's been noncredible about some of the police union statements here is the idea there was nothing wrong with what happened there. if anything, they've been on offense. i wonder first from your perspective to that, put the commissioner in any kind of bind because, of course, the union represents a lot of cops who as we always say risk their lives. and yet, we know in other cases, we mention sean bell. officers who engage in what we might call reckless killing

aren't included back on the force. >> i have to say, one union official, and the part i saw, he said there's no winners here, which is the right tone. beyond that, i really didn't honestly see -- the officer said which was the right thing to say. the police are working class people, and they do have due process rights. and there were people saying things like let's just indict to indict. and lawyers p shouldn't endorse that, and prosecutors shouldn't endorse that. you don't indict to indict. that's not ethical. it shouldn't happen. the union does have to represent the due process rights. but they have a more diverse workforce these days and the union membership is not monolithic. they have a lot of different ideas on this stuff. hopefully they'll play a positive role. if we could ever get the police union and the labor issues that really join them up with a lot of other people, it would be helpful. traditionally, police unions have not seen them since labor organizations and they should because they are. >> you know, alex, from afar watching the protests in

ferguson and last night in new york, they really could not have looked more different. i'm curious from your perspective being on the ground in ferguson for a long period of time now. what do folks there on the ground think of what's going on here in new york? specifically, how do they view the peaceful protests? >> well, they're very plugged into it. they feel as though they've been supported by people across the country and they're very eager to stand in solidarity with demonstrators in new york as they go through their own grief. but, you know, i'm here in st. louis. yesterday, there were scattered protests across the region, including downtown, displays of civil disobedience. so i think that the feelings are largely the same. there's sort of a sense of rage, of powerlessness, of being targeted by police, and many of the people that you spoke with said, you know, tomorrow i'm going to be driving to new york, and i'm going to be there to stand with the people there in celebration of the life of eric garner. >> all right. alex altman, eugene o'donnell.

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beyond a specific issue that has to be addressed, making sure that people have confidence that police, law enforcement and prosecutors are serving everybody equally, there's the larger question of restoring a sense of common purpose. at some level, everybody is our kid. everybody is our responsibility.

we are going to give back to everybody. >> president obama there with a noticeably stronger tone than he had about the michael case. the passion and deep sense that something must change has quickly traveled from the streets of staten island to the white house itself. that's where you find nbc's kristen welker with the latest reaction. kristen? >> good afternoon. president obama in his remarks today also acknowledged that right now many americans feel as though there is a, quote, deep unfairness in the way that the law is applied. what's striking about this moment is that you have protests in multiple cities. you also have this broad consensus, conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans and many of them on the same page and feel as though there was some injustice with the decision not to indict in the case of eric garner. president obama vowing to work with leaders like mayor bill de blasio, civil rights leaders to make sure that there is a sense of faith that is restored

between minority communities, police department, law enforcement officials and all across the country, but tough questions today during the white house press briefing. we asked press secretary josh earnest if the federal response needed to be more robust in the wake of the garner case and earnest pointed to the fact that what the president did earlier this week announced a 90-day task force aimed at trying to come up with some solutions and he urged patients. he called for $75 million that would go to funding 50,000 body cameras for law enforcement officials and the president today praising the fact that the protests so far have been largely peaceful. >> nbc's kristen welker, thank you very much for that. >> the reaction to this tragic case has brought out a consensus on both sides of the political aisle, a rare feat in d.c. let's bring in dana millbank, political columnist for "the washington post," because i

respect you i want to do a think thing with you in the short time we have. i was struck by mayor de blasio coming out yesterday and saying that we have to say black lives matter is crazy, but we still have to say it, but let's take up that big question. did you get the sense that black lives matter in this country? >> do i get that sense? yes, but you wouldn't think so by what we saw on staten island yesterday. this is a moment like any unlike we've seen in many years in which you have this sort of unity of opinion all of the way across the spectrum. you could take the name glenn beck off of the words that he said this morning and it would aren't be a whole lot different from what bill de blasio is saying. it's an extraordinary moment, and i would like to see the president capitalize on this. this is not the time to sit back and say, let's wait for our

90-day panel to come up with some recommendations. there are a lot of things out there and we all know what they are that could be done right now. this would be a great time to capitalize on that, even kathy mcmorris rogers, we have to have hearings on this. >> to that point, we heard talk about that. >> and virtually irrelevant and his favorability ratings are in the tank and the president has an opportunity to leave an indelible, important stamp on this country. >> right. in his last two years of office. >> i agree completely, crystal. there are pieces of legislation like the body cameras and those are fairly minor pieces of legislation and this is a classic bully pulpit case and the president seems frequently reluctant to do that. it's good to see the clip that you just played. it was good to see him come out yesterday and have these words, but this is a great time all

around the country, in new york, in ferguson talking about this. you know, calming the protests on the one end, but also saying we've got to acknowledge as virtually all americans are now that we have a problem. >> you were saying it's different than ferguson which was so polarizing for this country. you are hearing a similar message from both republicans and democrats. this really, in my opinion should not be a political issue when you look at the video and look at the fallout. take a listen to what speaker boehner and senator rand paul had to say in the aftermath? >> i think the person people want to understand more of what the facts were. a lot of unanswered questions that americans haven't frankly, i have. >> it's hard not to watch that video of him saying i can't breathe, i can't breathe and not be horrified by it and some politician had to direct the police to say we want you arresting people for selling a loose cigarette and for someone

to die for breaking that law there is no excuse for it. >> dana, let's also listen to conservative media, as well. take a listen. >> from looking at the video, the grand jury's decision here is totally incomprehensible. >> it ought to have been an indictment for some sort of manslaughter. >> yes, he should not have resisted, but all americans, every one of us should pity mr. garner and his family. he did not deserve what happened to him, and i think officer pantaleo and every other american police officer, every one would agree with me. he didn't deserve that. >> the eric garner case cannot unite this country, what can? >> it's a good question. you really have to go back to something like the 9/11 attacks to see this kind of unity of opinion across the spectrum? it's not on the same scale, but it really does say that if

political leadership were to seize the moment here, things, whatever those things are, whether it's independent prosecutors instead of the grand juries reviewing these police cases and whether it's at least keeping better statistics, the things could get done, if we try to do it here. >> we'll be back with a final word right after this. it's time for your business entrepreneur of the week. gabriel wanted funding for wash cycle laundry. his bike laundry pick up and delivery service, but he had a tough time getting investors to take the philadelphia company seriously, so he bootstrapped the business, made some money and soon enough cleaned up. >> watch your business, sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. >> brought to you by american express open. visit openforum.com for ideas to help you grow your business. uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i love my sister...

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okay. that does it for "the cycle." "now" with alex wagner starts right. failure to indict becomes the nation's rallying cry once again. it's thursday, december 4th and this is "now". >> fundamental questions are

being asked and rightfully so. >> shame! >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> america is telling me that my life absolutely does not matter as much. >> with this tape there's no probable cause? >> what i saw was a man struggling to breathe, who expired. >> if you're speaking, you can breathe. >> the police used excessive force. >> mr. garner made a choice that resist arrest. >> his life was taken. >> there is a pattern here. do many americans feel unfairness when it comes to the gap when it comes to ideals and how laws are applied. >> the justice is simply not there. >> we're talking about a moral right to live without fear, being unfairly attacked. >> it's a reawakening about the cause of justice.