that doesn't happen very often. >> is bob mcculloch a good prosz cue xx? >> yes, he's a good profession prosecutors. he can get convictions. he can try cases. this is a different case, though. this was a police shooting. it was handled differently. even though lots of people want to say that the case was handled as any other case, why not guilty just be honest about it and say when there's a police shooting, it's handled differently than other shooti s shootings. >> thank you so much for your time. >> all right. for the first time since michael brown's death, we're hearing from the man who killed him, officer darren wilson speaks next. i have a cold with terrible chest congestion. better take something. theraflu severe cold doesn't treat chest congestion. really? new alka-seltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. oh, what a relief it is. here we go! oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now - but hurry, the offer ends soon. [ho, ho, ho!] lease the 2015

jay nixon has a constituency, bob mcculloch has a constituency. they're both prosecutors, actually jay nixon was -- >> right, and your point, chris, we're continuing now to review the brand new released information by this prosecutor's office, as we reported, somewhat unusual release but our investigations unit is going through that. we'll continue to report on that tonight, including brand new first-time release of officer wilson's testimony here, which we now know obviously had some major impact on these grand jurors, craig melvin on the ground now, can you hear me? >> i hear you ufine. i'm going to show you the scene here. again, thissing right in front of the ferguson police department. you see what you have -- tactical vehicles separating what i say maybe 70, 80 protesters, separating those folks from the military style vehicles separating them from the officers. as you can probably see here are now in full riot gear. >>> for anybody standing in the street -- >> you can probably hear the warning as well. the warning to disperse. the commander

and then also, we also have to analyze what bob mcculloch does from a pr perspective.e has been in the position of arguing this case through pr. we're going to leak this information. that way, we will get the papers to announce and to talk about the things that we have leaked to the paper and argue our case on our behalf. we're going -- and i have a thought about why this particular prosecutor chose this particular time to make this announcement. in terms of pr, it's to his benefit if he makes this announcement late at night and people respond negatively, because he doesn't have to take the hit for that and he can say, i told you so, we were right and they're wrong. so, in pr -- with respect to pr, it's beneficial to the campaign that bob mcculloch has been launching and engaged in from jump. >> so, on that point, and then i want to bring craig back in, but drilling down deeper on that, some of the new materials we have just in the last hour is the august 10th testimony from darren wilson. and what is striking -- and we are still making our way through some of this, bu

and i'm quite sure bob mcculloch knew that wasn't going to happen. he certainly informed darren wilson's family. so they knew this was going to be the outcome. why wait till late at night -- >> we have a report that darin wilson last week was shopping for a network television interviewer which you would only be doing knowing that you're not a criminal defendant. >> and getting married. >> which one of these do i want to tell my big story. >> if i'm just doing the public policy bit, i'm going to ask myself, am i going to close school for two days so we deinstitutionalize the teenagers. then i'm going to make the announcement at 8:00 when those who are devoted to despair, there are people crying in that crowd. and this 30-minute epic statement is over, which tells you nothing, which gives you nothing. after that's over you have two choices. can you go home and be despairing in your house or stay outside and be angry. they deliberately left themselves with the people most committed to despair. that's an entirely predictable result of the way this was do

bob mcculloch coming out at around p.m.ocal time, the prosecutor who handled this case, this case that drew national attention almost from the start when darren wilson was found to have shot michael brown, an 1-year-old african-american and back in august. we are looking there on the screen. some of the st. louis county police who are getting close to approaching the microphones. they haven't begun this briefing. we're going to bring that alive. we have the microphones ready to do it as soon as they start the presser. that was at about 8:00 that bob mcculloch made the announcement that the grand jury did not indict. >> full assessment of what's going on. i know that there's at least a dozen buildings that have been set on fire. most of those are total losses. i know that i have two st. louis county police cars basically melted on florissant road just to the north of suburban. we've had a lot of incidents with officers being hit by rocks, batteries, different things like that. i can tell you i personally heard about 150 shot

if there is no diemt, it's because bob mcculloch does not want there to be one. plain and simple. >> would that change the way that you feel about mcculloch? about the structures here? >> i don't know if it would change my confidence. it w it would send a message that people on this groond e graand r see something that should not have took place. i don't know how much confidence that would put in the criminal justice system. he's completely not the person that should be taking care of this right now. ras ra rasheen, you are on this new panel? what do yosee coming out of it? >> i'm not sure what's going to come out of it. i feel like if he really wanted to get some type of change or a really wanted to hear voices of the people, there would definitely be more young folks on this commission. let's speak, once again, 108 days young people have been out here peacefully protesting. i hope that i'll have the chance to talk to as many young people as possible in what is the concerns that we have. we're tired of being treated like we're not human. we're tired of being har

and make the decision on whether or not bob mcculloch was going to be removed from the case.hink kendall makes a wonderful point that bob mcculloch should have manned up, if he felt there was no evidence to proceed with an indictment, instead of hiding behind the grand jury and playing in the court of public opinion that i'm giving all this evidence to them so that we can reach a fair decision. that's not true. man up and say that i don't think that there's a case and do not hide behind the grand jury. >> already, kendall coffey, lizz brown, appreciate the time tonight. >>> up next, the unrest goes national. leaders are calling for calm as we approach another night of protests. this is "hardball," the place for politics. the equipment tracking system will get you to the loading dock. ♪ there should be a truck leaving now. i got it. now jump off the bridge. what? in 3...2...1... are you kidding me? go. right on time. right now, over 20,000 trains are running reliably. we call that predictable. thrillingly predictable. how can in china,sumption impact wool exports from new zeal

and make the decision on whether or not bob mcculloch was going to be removed from the case. think kendall makes a wonderful point that bob mcculloch should have manned up, if he felt there was no evidence to proceed with an indictment, instead of hiding behind the grand jury and playing in the court of public opinion that i'm giving all this evidence to them so that we can reach a fair decision. that's not true. man up and say that i don't think that there's a case and do not hide behind the grand jury. >> already, kendall coffey, lizz brown, appreciate the time tonight. >>> up next, the unrest goes national. leaders are calling for calm as we approach another night of protests. this is "hardball," the place for politics. r credit score, they don't have one. r credit score, but they do. your score still needs someone to take care of it. it needs your help. for the low price of completely free forever, you can get your credit score from credit karma.com. credit karma will give you your score for free and show you what you can do to nurture it. love your score. take care of it

of course, in reaction to what we've been covering all this evening announcement by prosecutor bob mcculloch in this case the shooting death of michael brown by officer darren wilson announcement tonight just after 8:00 p.m. local time in ferguson that there would be no charges, no true bill, no indictment on any of the five charges related to that shooting death. this is both local and national news. an unusual address tonight if you are just joining us or catching up, the president of the united states, barack obama came out and spoke about this decision saying that it should be respected, that we are a nation of laws and at the same time, reiterating his condolences to the family of michael brown who was shot and saying that some anger here is understandable. we are looking here at some of the results of that anger in these fires that keep burning. as we've reported, as well tonight, this is in about a

louis county prosecutor bob mcculloch announced the grand jury's decision here at the clayton countyourthouse monday night. mcculloch said jurors had found "that no probable cause exists" to charge officer wilson with any crime. >> the duty of the grand jury is to separate fact from fiction. after a full and impartial and critical examination of all the evidence in the law and decide that evidence supported the filing of any criminal charges against darren wilson. they accepted and completed as monumental responsibility and conscientious and expeditious manner. it is important to note here that and say again that they are the only people, the only people who have heard and examined every witness and every piece of evidence. they discussed and debated the evidence among themselves before arriving at their collective decision. after their exhaustive review of the evidence, the grand jury deliberated over two days, making a final decision. they determined that no probable cause exists to file any charges against officer wilson and returned a no true bill on each of the five indictments.

local time, 9:00 eastern time announcement that was coming from bob mcculloch? you want to be a part of the community when this was announced? >> actually, i was at the nbc -- we call it the nbc compound, nbc compound when filming happened and had to go inside once there was gunfire that secured demanded we go inside. i was pretty much inside for a large part of the evening for safety reasons and i could see things being set on fire. i could hear people running around outside. it became a very dangerous situation quickly. and it's been my call for about a week and a half now telling people that i think tonight these protesters need to stay home because i think it's going to be just too dangerous. >> as a committee woman on the ferguson township and as you talk about the protesters who have been there over 100 days and there have been peaceful demonstrations, with that recommendation of you saying that they should stay home and giving that advice ahead of time, how was that received? >> i mean, there were still people who were determined to be out. and for the in

louis prosecuting attorney bob mcculloch. >> we determined that no probable cause exists to file any charge against officer wilson and no true bill on each of the five indictments. the physical and scientific evidence examined by the grand jury combined with the witness statements supported and substantiated by that physical evidence tells the accurate and tragic story of what happened. >> and shortly thereafter, president obama called for peace. >> first and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law. and so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make. there are americans who agree with it. and there are americans who are deeply disappointed, even angry. it is an understandable reaction. but i join michael's parents in asking anyone who protests this decision to do so peacefully. we need to recognize that this is not just an issue for ferguson. this is an issue for america. we have made enormous progress in race relations, over the course of the past several decades. i have witnessed that in my own life. and to deny that progress, i think, is to deny am

western this announcement by simple prosecuting attorney, bob mcculloch. >> they determined no probable cause exist to file charges against darren wilson and returned no true bill on each of the five indictments. the scientific evidence examined by the grand jury supported by witness statements tells the accurate and tragic story of what happened. >> shortly thereafter president obama called for peace. >> first and foremost we are a nation built on the rule of law. so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make. there are americans who agree with it. there are americans who are decently disappointed even angry. it's an understandable reaction. but i join michael's parents in asking anyone who protests this decision to do so peacefully. we need to recognize that this is not just an issue for ferguson, this is an issue for america. we have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the past several decades. i have witnessed that in my own life, and to deny that progress, i think, is to deny america's capacity for change. but what is also true is that

let's just -- bob mcculloch right there, robert mcculloch. let's listen in. >> good evening. thanks for your patience. i'm a little late getting up here, so i have a statement at the very beginning here, then we'll be happy to answer some questions when we're finished with that. first and foremost, i'd like to again extend my deepest sympathies to the family of michael brown. i've said in the past, i know that, regardless of the circumstances here, they lost a loved one to violence. and i know that the pain that accompanies such a loss knows no bounds. on august 9th, michael brown was shot and killed by police officer darren wilson. within minutes various accounts of the incident began appearing on social media. accounts filled with speculation and little if any solid, accurate information. almost immediately neighbors began gathering and anger began growing because of the various descriptions of what had happened and because of the underlying tension between the police department and the significant part of the neighborhood. the st. louis county police conducted an extensive

louis county prosecutor bob mcculloch that the grand jury had found no criminal indictment for darren wilson in the shooting death of michael brown. we're starting to get looks at some of the testimony. one of the things that called out to me, one of the things in a broader sense we'll see in the next day that will be very difficult for his family and for people that feel that justice was not served is that inevitably what will happen as that testimony is sifted through is a relitigation of the culpability of michael brown in his own shooting death though unarmed. we saw this from the very beginning when the security footage was released from the local convenience store on the same day that the name of the officer was released. there was widespread outrage that felt like this was an act of character assassination, an attempt to influence a future jury pool to say this was a there you go, someone who was unstable or violent or menacing and that michael brown was essentially put on trial. what you will see as the grand jury testimony is sifted through in the days to come is that i fear

they'll be allowed to ask questions of bob mcculloch. we're also told most appear to be local reporters from the saint lewis area. if there is no indictment tonight, obviously, a lot of attention will focus to what the reaction will be in the streets. what the reaction will be from michael brown's family. there will also be an interesting legal question. and that is whether or not the evidence will be publicly released. as we've been describing over the course of the day and into the evening here on msnbc, one of the anomalous decisions that this prosecutor made was to not just present evidence to this grand jury that would help make the best case for a specific indictment on a specific charge. the prosecutor announced that everything they had, everything, full stock, would be handed over to this grand jury. >> again, over three months going over vol luminous evidence from four hours of testimony from darren wilson. the three hours of deliberations, excuse me, three months of deliberations. we're told we're recorded. there were rourdings

i feel like we're into some new phase now and bob mcculloch in releasing all this is everyone is going to basically his feet were in, his feet were out, not to be glib about it, but the very high stakes version of that is what we have now, right? >> right. in a way -- look, what he did is an astonishing thing. we shouldn't lose sight of that. he sought to avoid a politically uncomfortable decision by punting to the grand jury but in his press conference essentially revealed -- >> that this is what he thought was proper. >> and that he had his thumb on the scale the whole time. the abuse of hallowed notion of transparency. if you're going to wrap yourself in this very important idea, which is we're going to let it all be free. we're going to make it open. we're going to let the information come out. when in fact what you're doing is, like i said, putting your thumb on the scale, that's a problem because, frankly it's a perversion of the process. >> to come back to the fact that everyone's in this ridiculous situation trying to construct their own trial based on this and divine what actu

what the prosecutor bob mcculloch spoke to tonight. bob mcculloch acknowledging there were issues with police and with the community. and unfortunately, the death of michael brown would open up conversation at least for people to start a conversation and to possibly come to some sort of consensus as to how to deal with this situation. but listen, there's no way to describe what you're seeing on your screen, just utter chaos, an embarrassment really i would say for the brown family. for the peaceful and law-abiding citizens of ferguson and this country. my producers are cuing me here as we're watching people loot this convenience store, this liquor store. i want to go now to cnn's jake tapper, who is out in the crowd with more. jake, what are you seeing? >> hey, don. how are you? well, we're right near the ferguson police department. and you can see all the big police trucks. the line of police officers in their riot gear standing there blocking. we've heard anecdotally that the shots that were fired i think earlier tonight, chris cuomo

the posterior bob mcculloch going on for 20 minutes and answering questions afterwards. here on the ground, outside the ferguson police headquarters someone set up a large set of speakers on a trolley. the crowd listened carefully to his words. the clip played - they did not notice that clip, and it took a while, but eventually people started saying "no indictment", and the chant went out. a group of protesters after that went up to the police barrier and kicked it in, and forced police to come out of the fire station next door, and from that point things went downhill. >> more than 4800 pages of evidence released. can you tell us a bit about some of those highlights. >> yes, 5,000 pages almost released by bob mcculloch, the st louis county prosecutor. of all of it, the most interesting from the police officer darren wilson, because according to the testimony given by darren wilson, and made public, he asked michael brown and a friend to get out of the rode. they refused, gave him backchat and was profeign, and he said what's wrong with the sidewalk and michael brown cam

. >> i mentioned there's been an eruption of anger from the community about the prosecutor, bob mcculloch. and how he hand the grand jury. what did you think about the whole process those three months? >> i really think that they took us through some heart breaking, agonizing pain, when bob mcculloch pretty much knew what he wasn't going to do. and the way that he did his job was almost insubordinated. like you should have just stemmed aside and let someone do the job correctly. >> you know, i said the other day, i've never heard a prosecutor disparage a victim the way mcculloch did. what did you want -- what would you want to say to him? i know michael's father said, peel don't know his son like you and he did. what would you want to say to him when you heard him saying these disparaging things about michael jr.? >> that's a tough one, rev. i want to say a lot of things. but the proper thing would be to ask him, if you hold this seat, then why won't you do your job? no one should do your job for you. and we've been saying a lot of different people doing different people's jobs since augu

and bob mcculloch couldn't have gotten an indictment that would have led to a public trial of officern. am i wrong? >> that's the curious thing, juan, that the description that these people give of grand juries is the criticism of grand juries that defense attorneys like myself and others long criticized grand juries as not seriously reviewing evidence that they are rigged. this is a raritiy. this is a case where prosecutor did not put his thumb on the scale and the grand jury actually looked at the entirety of the evidence i'm not sure that's a criticism. normally not done. in this case people are often ignoring some simple facts. one is that there was a great deal of evidence supporting the officer i have significant concern about this case as a lot of people do. the forensic evidence and some eyewitness testimony did support the officer. if this was handled like a normal grand jury in one day. it very likely would have been a very fast decision not to indictment i will tell you one thing, putting aside the grand jury, i don't have much doubt in my mind that this would have been def

in a rambling half hour speech delivered well past night fall, prosecutor bob mcculloch said there's no doubt he shot michael brown to death. there's no question when he died michael brown was unarmed. but mcculloch intimated there were many more questions. questions that only the grand jury has the privilege offed a jute kating because only they had seen all the evidence and heard all the testimony, and they, he told us, decided there was no crime in this killing. nothing for which to indict officer wilson. yes, michael brown is dead, but that is not, they decided, a criminal act. and what father or mothered was pain. and what followed was pain, disbelief, grief, fury, protests. how could this boy be dead, but the man who shot him would not have to face a criminal charge, an open trial, a jury, a verdict? for no one was this anguish more acute and personal than for michael brown's parents, and through that pain they continued to pursue one very specific effort with fierce determination. we need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen, they wrote. join with us

still bob mcculloch has been in his position, an elected position, since 1991. ho claim he's pro-police point to his family ties. mcculloch's father, uncle, brother and cousin all served in the st. louis p.d. and his father was killed by a black suspect. here's cnn's ana cabrera. >> reporter: st. louis county prosecutor bob mcculloch under fire. >> still hurting. basically i feel like they just killed him again. >> reporter: facing fresh criticism for his handling of the michael brown shooting case and his announcement of the grand jury decision after dark. tension that had been building for hours erupting into chaos, causing some to question the timing. >> waiting for the announcement last night was wondering what the wisdom and the thought process was behind waiting till that hour. i don't know that it would have been any better. i think ultimately those who wished to create disruption were bent on doing that. >> reporter: others left wondering about the grand jury process. >> he said that there was a problem with the evidence, conflicting testimony. that's up

but that is the history that fuels the prosecutor's most vocal critics. >> bob mcculloch has shown in past he is not sensitive to the african-american community. >> reporter: but even with the grand jury decision now behind him, robert mcculloch still has many naysayers questioning how the evidence was laid out and exactly why he decided to make the announcement late in the evening, when protests were more likely to get out of hand. ed laugh end era, cnn, furg, missouri. >>> and some breaking news we had in. we have confirmed an ar-15 rifle stolen from one of the st. louis police cruisers that was torched, that it has been stolen and they are looking for its whereabouts. we'll update you as we get more on that story. and again an ar-15 a significant rifle into this nation's conscious giving the so many shootings. and first, your response to the ar-15 missing, that is an awful thing to hear. >> the last thing we need is more firearms up here in ferguson or anywhere in the world. it is not good news, let's say it that way. >> not at all. and i want to give your reaction, neal, your clie

an announcement is expected from prosecutor bob mcculloch at any moment. it's been 108 days since officer darren wilson shot and killed brown, and tonight, we will find out if he'll be charged with a crime. we also will hear from missouri governor jay nixon in about an hour and a half, to a half hour. we'll have that for you live. but what happened inside the grand jury? the secret grand jury? what decision did those 12 people come to? and what is the mood on the ground in ferguson tonight? we'll have all angles covered tonight, from the legal, to the voices in ferguson. we start tonight outside the center of justice in clayton, missouri, with msnbc's craig melvin. craig, this moment has been months in the making. what's the mood? >> rev, i would describe the mood as anxious. as you said, 108 days since that shooting here in ferguson. law enforcement anxious, citizens anxious, protesters anxious. we've seen more barricades go up around the justice center behind me where the grand jury had been deliberating. we've seen monuments in front of the police depar

louis prosecutor bob mcculloch. ferguson police chief tom jackson was also a target. he tells nbc news that officials warned him of the plot but told him it was under control. the two men were indicted last week after making straw purchases of guns. they also tried to buy firebombs from undercover law enforcement officials with the intention of using them in ferguson. sources tell the "st. louis post" dispatch that the men wanted to acquire two more bombs but could not afford to do it until one suspect's girlfriend's benefits card was replenished. yesterday afternoon the parents of michael brown and the families of other victims killed by police held an evening of prayer here in new york city with the national action netw k network's rev regard al sharpton. and in ferguson, a much quieter night with police reporting only two arrests. they also say there were no officers injured or any damage to police vehicles. meanwhile, in oakland, protesters blocked major roadways and set this car on fire. that cvs store was among several available liezed. police say protesters thr

county prosecutor bob mcculloch says reliable eyewitnesses testified brown charged at wilson before he was shot. there were multiple witnesses that changed their stories or gave conflicting accounts. >> i'm ever mindful that this decision will not be accepted by some. and may cause disappointment for others. but all decisions in the criminal justice system must be determined by the physical and scientific evidence and the credible testimony corroborated by that evidence not in response to public outcry or for political exped ency. >> mcculloch didn't mention brown was unarmed but singled out to the media saying they contributed to the unrest after the shooting. these are photos of officer wilson after his altercation with brown. he testified brown hit him when he first approached the teen about a robbery. the officer said he would warn brown he would shoot if he did not get back. at which time brown grabbed wilson's gun and twisted around. wilson said brown looked like a demon and drew his gun out of fear and another punch could knock him out. wilson's attorney released a statement whi

i only wish there was someone to put bob mcculloch under oath so he could speak about the decisions heoing forward to prosecute or not prosecute darren wilson but the fact longer goodell had to go under oath, he is revealed as a liar and i really hope there is a zealous states prosecutor that brings perjury charges against roger goodell going forward because he chose to double down on the story of what he knew and when he knew it, the same story that had the entire sports media including a lot of nfl scoffing and he doubled down on that under oath and i really do hope he has to pay some sort of legal penalty for doing that. >> dave, this is tough for people undoubtedly because i think that there is, you know, in the case that you're trying to make a comparison here with ferguson, i think a lot of people who are at least are on the side of mr. brown and brown's family feel like there is a good guy and bad guy. >> yeah. >> and this is a lot less clear in the sense it's tough to be the folks who are like yes, we're down for ray rice getting to come back to play. so pull that apart a littl

. >> and all this was set off, gloria, after that press conference that was held by bob mcculloch, the prosecutor, you were there when he was giving that press conference. what were some of reactions as you were sitting for him waiting for him what kind of stood out to you. he did a lot to try to explain why this happened and give his own opinions about even the media being involved in a role they played in some of these protests and unrest. >> reporter: that's exactly right. in fact, he took a moment to single out the media and one component that made it difficult for him to did his job and made it difficult for the grand jury to consider the evidence, the hard evidence he said the media passed on firsthand reports from witnesses that were then recanted by those witnesses, a different version of the story given but what struck me the most about his announcement was that he went back over and over again to the fact that the evidence would be made public and we know his office initially believed they needed to seek a judge's okay to release the testimony, the evidence, remember, he said

louis county prosecutorring attorney bob mcculloch and ferguson police chief tom jackson. we're told the suspects had been under investigation for months. >>> more trouble tonight for entertainer and comedian bill cosby. the university of massachusetts amherst has decided to cut ties. cosby raised money for the school in the past and, of course, wusa9 has reported that multiple women have come forward claiming that cosby raped them. no charges have been filed. cosby denies the claims. >>> he the unrest in ferguson may have led to the cancellation of the annual thanksgiving day parade in st. louis, but it appears the area has paused for peace this holiday. cold and snow brought some calm wednesday night. scores of demonstrators protested outside the police department where hundreds have squared off the previous two nights, but this time there were just two arrests and the presence of 2,000 national guard troops helped, too. their numbers were tripled after monday's violence. >>> the anger and outrage triggered by the racially charged shooting of michael brown continues to s

the prosecutor bob mcculloch should have cross-examine the testimony of the officer.he first ening to segment earlier, talking about how the president is to blame not make eye d contact. demonstrating and protesting, burning and looting things anyway. do o think that has to anything with it. everybody has agreed that this was a highly unusual process and that the officer was like a defendant -- he was treated like a victim instead of a defendant. host: i saw to show you a few other headlines on the news. the 's the front page of wall street journal, iran negotiate a nuclear deal. deal with iran will be extended seven months. negotiators failed on monday for the second time this year. diplomats say they needed until to end of june, 2015 finalise the terms. that story also in the front page of other newspapers. of tory that made a love headlines this year on the scandal at the va. the phoenix hospital -- whistleblowers said dying while were waiting list. -- had been on at aadministrative leave. the v8 will not tolerate that we depend on employees. we should boat veteran

when people requested that bob mcculloch step aside, i think that would have gone a long way to givingeople some modicum of faith the situation could be reasonably resolved. , there arepicture all sorts of things that go into this. one is deemed demographic factors, only three african-american police officers on the police department. in a community that is more than 60% black. that is one factor. probably a cold troll issue in terms of how people perceive the job of policing. this is not simply in ferguson. this is a national problem. theur people perceive community that is the least for a police -- or a community that is served? those are different approaches to handling your job. those things are important in terms of preventing the situation like this from taking root. ande have jeffrey toobin others that said it was a reasonable decision for that grand jury to make about the indictments. how does that sound to you? >> what i think in this community, when you look at the bigger picture, the consistency with which african-americans have these encounters, and the lived experience, pe

an announcement is expected from prosecutor bob mcculloch at any moment.it's been 108 days since officer darren wilson shot and killed brown, and tonight, we will find out if he'll be charged with a crime. we also will hear from missouri governor jay nixon in about an hour and a half, to a half hour. we'll have that for you live. but what happened inside the grand jury? the secret grand jury? what decision did those 12 people come to? and what is

. >> bob mcculloch has shown in the past he's not sensitive to the african-american community. >> [ bleep. >> but even with the grand jury decision now hin him, robert mcculloch still has many naysay naysayer, questioning how the evidence was laid out and exactly why he decided to make the announcement late in the evening, when protests were more likely to get out of hand. >>> and we are still connecting with our many teams on the ground there in ferguson, missouri. after this short break, we're going to reconnect with everyone. this is a place where racial tensions have turned to violence for a second night in a row. we're going to see how things are progressing at this late hour after this break. stay with cnn. two weeks later. look, credit karma-- are you talking to websites again? this website says "free credit scores." oh, credit karma! yeah it's actually free. look, you don't have to put in your credit card information. whew! credit karma. really. free. many of the protesters feel completely different about that. they say kmiel brown was singled out by police because of his race. an

the fact is bob mcculloch is the elected prosecutor in this county, overwhelmingly elected to i thinkrm. and he has been a wonderful prosecutor. put every single piece of evidence before the grand jury and he is now being criticized form. i can't imagine the tsunami of criticism that would have followed if he would have held off just one piece of evidence from the grand jury. >> i understand you had a chance to speak to officer wilson last night. what was his reaction to the grand jury's decision not to indict him? >> i'm not going to go into any detail about when or where or how i talked to him. but his main concern is and continues to be with the police officers out there that are in harm's way. you can imagine this is a difficult time for him. knowing that shots are being fired. hundreds of shots fired last night. a dozen buildings burned. two police cars ravaged with fire. this is a dangerous situation for police and national guardsmen and firefighters and being sidelined like this is difficult. >> we heard from the mayor of ferguson earlier in the day that wilson remains on admin

louis prosecutor bob mcculloch announced the decision of the grand jury.hough we can't speak concerning the decision of the grand jury's decision our words are the brown family. words cannot express the grief they're dealing with. many of our residents, citizens, and business owners are asking for prayers during this time of unrest. we truly understand that the world is watching, both the city of ferguson and the st. louis region as well as the state of missouri. i would like to make this statement perfectly clear: we would like to thank the many police officers, firefighters, and missouri highway patrol troopers for putting themselves in harm's way to protect our citizens and our businesses. unfortunately, as the unrest grew and further assistance was needed, the national guard was not deployed in enough time to save all of our businesses. the decision to delay the deployment of national guard is deeply concerning. we're asking the governor make available and deploy all necessary resources to prevent the further destruction of property and the preservatio

he described what bob mcculloch did by the prosecutor last night as an extended whine. but this decision by the prosecutor to unilaterally call the witnesses to this crime or this case, at least, the shooting, right, to call the witnesses liars and fab ewe lists, witnesses in this case have been totally discredited and should never be believed. that decision, not only reflects on what brought us to this point in ferguson. it may very well reflect on what's going to happen next there,too. the prosecutor at the county level here appears not only to justify his own decision, that there will be no local prosecution for the dgsz, but, also, in his own statement, ae tries to be materially effecting any other legal are e discourse by the family of the deceased in civil court. since that 18-year-old young man died, and was left by police lying in the street in the august heat for 4 1/2 hours on that saturday afternoon, people up set by that shoot iing including what happened, have been trying to get recourse. and they've been trying to recourse through the system. there is also

whether it's a distrust of prosecutor bob mcculloch, the people here, at least the black community hereferguson and the surrounding areas in greater st. louis, do not trust local law enforcement. but again, it's important to note that much of the white community does. this is a disconnect. we saw from polling that came out in august and september there's a real disconnect here between minority communities and white communities in terms of trust in law enforcement and trust in the judicial system. i think that's one of the endearing lessons and realities of what's happened out here in ferguson. >> well, i just say, this disconnect i've seen for years all over the country. i saw it when i went into ferguson, in staten island. there's already a connection between local police and local investigators that only becomes worse when you have breakdowns that have been described tonight. we'll be watching in ferguson. i intend to be there, as i said to the parents when i was there a couple weeks ago, but we want to see peace as michael brown sr and the mother liz have said throughout this. but pe

fiction fed by moti emotion, rather than punishing the witnesses for getting it wrong, you do what bob mcculloch does and rely on the physical evidence. because the witness statements in a vacuum don't present enough of the case to indict. the physical evidence to use your word is incontrovertible and supports darren wilson's account of events and completely rejects all these fantastic accounts of events that we heard over and over again. >> i will tell you, this is the sard part of this from the very beginning, there were people that they didn't care about where the evidence took them. they weighed in on this story, prejudged this story including a top law enforcement officer of our country, the attorney general of the united states, eric holder, and even the president, the president laughably tonight actually went forward and said, i don't comment on cases or prejudge them while they're still being investigated. meanwhile, he did that with the cambridge police, he did that in the trayvon martin case, and he did it in this case. what does that mean when a president or attorney general weighs in

>> well, you know, bob mcculloch is charged and elected to the people to bring this case before the grand. he is at least public reports have been that his intentions are to put every witness, every piece of evidence in front of the grand jury and let them weigh the evidence as they would in any other case. i think that that's a prudent course, but i don't think from what i know of the physical evidence that the statements that you just played on the air there match up with the physical evidence. >> and i know that a lot of legal experts say that witness testimony is notoriously unreliable, but it's still a lot of people who say they saw this and that michael brown's hands were up. i understand you don't agree with that. i did want to ask you about t after math because an effort is made to keep protests peaceful. community oerganizers are workig with police and appeals calling for calm. do you think that is enough, are you worry some had. >> i'm quite worried. i have the dubious charge of representing 1150 st. louis and airport police officers. and i worry every moment of every day about

bob mcculloch said part of the reason was protecting the integrity of the investigation. part of where we were was to do just that as well. we didn't want to put a statement out there. we didn't want people to try to disprove it by having other witnesses come forward just to say it wasn't true and we knew there were lots of witnesses making things up. mcculloch said as much. the integrity meant we couldn't say this publicly. >> the biggest threat to darren wilson's freedom essentially was this case as oppose d to the federal case, the standard for a federal case is much different. >> i think so. >> to go after him on a civil rights investigation, you have to show that he intended to violate your civil rights. if you don't even have probable cause in this instance, intentional acts are hard. >> what will happen to darren wilson now? where does he go? >> start his life over. the life he had as darren wilson, a police officer, is over. so he'll have to find a new way -- >> how concerned are you about his security? >> very concerned. that's been part of the reason, too, we've

if as bob mcculloch was aware he said, they were aware about the purported robbery, why not ask aboutre are inconsistencies throughout the story. >> there are also 16 -- i think 16 of the 29 witnesses who said they saw him raise his hand. >> right. >> i mean how -- let's just move forward with this. how do you re-establish trust in that community? >> well, i mean one of the things that i can't get over is here we are in 2014 and we're still having these all white or almost all white police forces in majority black neighborhoods. that's just nuts and why would that be true? we know how -- we know how to fix this, and we know it works, by the way. it does work to have people who are from the community in the community. >> okay. i want to move from 2014 to 2016. not a very smooth transition, i know. but rand paul, jelani, rand paul is the only potential 2016er who's wading into the ferguson discussion and really trying to reach out to young african-americans and bring them into the republican tent. you wrote that "republicans didn't lose the black vote but forfeited it." what advice woul

back in ferguson, at the center of the storm last night, prosecutor bob mcculloch acknowledged there would be criticism of the grand jury's conclusions. >> i'm ever mindful that this decision will not be accepted by some and may cause disappointment for others. but all decisions in the criminal justice system must be determined by the physical and scientific evidence and the credible testimony corroborated by that evidence, not in response to public outcry or for political expediency. >> ifill: mcculloch said the grand jury of nine whites and three blacks met on 25 days, heard more than 70 hours of testimony from 60 witnesses, including officer wilson, and found no probable cause to charge him. in key testimony, wilson said brown came at him in his car, and grabbed at him and his gun. he testified, "i felt like "a 5- year-old holding onto hulk hogan." the officer said he shot brown multiple times, first while in his car, and again after brown charged at him on the street. a friend of brown's who was with him denied brown struck wilson or charged him. the testimony of bystanders confl

. >> i keep hearing this notion that bob mcculloch has done something wrong by presenting all the evidencen you imagine the criticism that would rain down on his head if he were to have kept one piece of evidence from the grand jury? i mean, this is just a ludicrous -- >> some of that would not be admissible in court. what the critics are saying they're overwhelming grand juries. >> this isn't him handing them a bunch of boxes, this is him presenting evidence piece by piece within context. >> is he going for a first degree murder or man slaughter? that's the problem. the problem is when you give a jury way more information than any grand jury has ever gotten, then give them way less guidance than any grand jury -- >> we don't know that. >> because it looked like a data dump, a document dump. if that is true, that's a very, very unusual -- >> we'll certainly know more if and when the transcript and everything is released, which this prosecutor has said he will. we'll is to leave it there. jeff, appreciate you being on, van jones as well. we're less than five minutes away from learning wheth