let's go back to ed lavandera, if we could. he's near the ferguson police department. ed, what exactly are the police doing behind you right now? >> reporter: right now they're just standing guard in front of the police department headquarters there, trying to prevent people from standing in the street and protesting in the middle of the street. the crowd, i think, has thinned out considerably, considering what was here earlier, jake, but to kind of piggyback off of what you were saying a little while ago, as you were talking about the scene there on that stretch of west florissant where she was. we were on that stretch of road together back in august. and the scene that unfolded there tonight was far worse than what we saw three, three months ago. i can, based on what i saw during a week and a half of protests back in august and compared to what i saw tonight. tonight was infinitely more treacherous and a dangerous situation, and added to the fact, you know, that there was no one to kind of control the situation for the longest time. it is now much calmer on that stre

ed lavandera, many thanks to you. we'll take a very short break. >>> welcome back to cnn's special coverage of the unfolding situation just outside st. louis, missouri. this is dellwood, missouri, just outside offing fors ferguson, m. the mayor of dellwood spoke with us a short time ago and made the point he's disappointed the national guard and all the security forces he was assured would be present to protect local businesses weren't able to stop those buildings from being set on fire. they also include a car dealership we watched burn for a good hour as cars continued to light up one another before fire officials were able to distinguish that. the story has been many of the security situation has been so bad, gunshots have been heard. fire officials are decided not to go in and wait until it was much more safe. we did hear from captain ron johnson and those in charge of security. they've all said there has been no one injured in this. no one killed. but they have made at least 29 arrests. and hundreds of shots they

let's get ed lavandera first on the ground in ferguson. any reaction, ed?er: i think the reaction will be that this is what many people in the ferguson area and in st. louis expected to happen. we have been reporting for several weeks now that officer darren wilson was in talks to resign. but as you see from that statement that officer wilson wanted to wait for the grand jury to make its decision. but these are talks that have been under way for quite some time. his lawyers had made it clear to him, and they have told us over the last few days, that any likelihood of him returning to the police force was just simply not going to happen. and then you also have the people in the city of ferguson who have made it very clear that darren wilson would not be welcomed back on to the police. so it was always very hard to imagine he would once again be patrolling the streets of ferguson in any kind of way. so, you know, perhaps a lot of people not necessarily surprised that this announcement has finally come. but it's probably, you know, one of those pieces of news

let's bring in ed lavandera who is also in ferguson with more of this part of the story. what are you seeing, ed? >> hey, wolf. i think a lot of people here in the city of ferguson are hoping that the weather will be the big story today. this is the scene you see here of the national guard patrolling and protecting the area around the command center that has been stationed just up the road from what we've seen, the most intense protests over the course of the last few days and we'll take you down here along the road. this is west fluorescent road and this is where everything unraveled monday night after the announcement was made of darren wilson that would not be indicted by the police -- by the grand jury here in the st. louis area and the scene here this afternoon after monday night was a total mayhem. this is the strep of road where many businesses were looted and burned and torched and you can see here a much different scene, wolf, over the last two nights and this is what west fluorescent looks now, about a mile stretch of the road completely shut down. this is looki

>> ed lavandera. this is oak, california. our affiliate, kgo, route 580 shut down in oakland, california. familiar protests there. protests in portland, protests in seattle, san francisco, denver, in nashville, in new orleans, chicago, providence, rhode island, washington, d.c., baltimore, philadelphia and boston. and as we look at these pictures from oakland, it appears in the center of your screen an arrest going on. route 580 in oakland shut down. and we're looking at officers and protesters that are -- appear to be in some sort of standoff there. and like we saw just moments ago in ferguson, missouri, an arrest live on your screen. van jones is our analyst here on cnn. you're also an attorney and a political analyst. and as we have been watching this, there have been a number of arrests. not nearly as many that took place last evening. and not as much violence as happened last evening. what do you make of what's happen, gal vennizing protests across the country. >> it's a watershed moment for a generation of young people

. >> we want to bring in ed lavandera live in ferguson. was wilson forced out? >> reporter: well, a lot of people did not envision in any way how darren wilson would continue to be a police officer here in ferguson. we have been reporting for several weeks that there have been talks in the works behind the scenes planning the departure of darren wilson. last night he released a statement "i have been told my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the city of ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that i cannot allow." he goes on to say in that statement "it was my hope to continue in police work but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me." darren wilson says he never wanted to be anything else other than a police officer, and his lawyers say now he'll have to try to find another line of work but reaction to this news last night as it came down, you might imagine many people critical over darren wilson over the last few months say it shouldn't have taken this long. >> my reaction to wi

>> ed lavandera, thank you so much.oming up, so does darren wilson still worry about other legal actions that might be taken against him? we'll ask his attorneys coming up next. gs for $65 a month. 3 gigs ... is that a lot? that's about ... 100 app downloads, 45 hours of streaming music, and 6 hours of video playing. (singing) and five golden rings! ha, i see what you did... (singing) four calling birds...three french hens ...(the guys starts to fizzle out) two... turtle...doves... i really went for it there ya you did ... you really, really did now get 3 gigs of data on one line for $65 a month. switch to at&t, buy a new smartphone and get $150 credit per line. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may caus

ed lavandera, cnn, ferguson, missouri. >> and we want you to stay with cnn for the latest developments on the news in ferguson, missouri. our team of reporters is spread out across ferguson and the neighboring cities. stay up to speed on your smartphone or tablet by logging onto cnn.com. >> as we look at the week ahead, the busiest travel day of the year for the u.s. may meet up with the worst weather day yet of the season. we'll bring in our meet jips now to detail that. a lot of americans are watching there, planning to see their family and friends for thanksgiving. but you have people internationally coming to the u.s. and want to know how bad this is going to be. >> flights in and out of the united states, over 200 flights have been canceled. things are about to change dramatically in the coming hours. 45 million people have been warned of inclement weather, severe storms as a possibility, with snow and accumulating rainfall and snow in the forecast. when you look at the numbers, aaa telling us this is going to be the most traveled for this holiday season since 2007, with the immov

cnn's ed lavandera is outside the st. louis galleria mall. we're hearing reports in recent moments of stores closing altogether inside that mall because of new protests. what have you seen there? >> reporter: we got here a short while ago. it sounds like right now that the mall is closed. we've tried to get inside and various national guard members and police tell us that it's closed. but we've also been told that the mall is probably going to reopen. we're waiting for official confirmation. but right now, police guarding the entrances into the mall. several hundred protesters showed up here at the galleria and started chanting and marching through various parts of the mall. and about 1:00 central time, there was a bulletin sent out to the stores inside the mall telling them to close down their shops. we spoke with several employees inside the mall who said that at times it started to get rather agitated. one employee told us that at one point the protesters were going to start throwing chairs throughout the food court area. that's when the n

>> we haven't left. >> reporte >> ed lavandera, thank you very much. a gunman in hours before he shot three people at that library at florida state university. his friends are opening up the mysterious packages. what's inside? we have those details next. ugh... ...heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. boy: once upon a time, there was a nice house that lived with a family. one day, it started to rain. the house tried to keep out all the water, but water got inside and ruined everybody's everythings. the house thought she let the family down. they just didn't think it could happen. they told the house they would take better care of her... always. announcer: protect what matters. get flood insurance. we're for an opens you internet for all.sing. we're for creating more innovation and competition. we're for net neutrality protection. now, here's some

cnn's ed lavandera is in baton rouge this morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. those two candidates -- an unprecedented program arting busithat partners businesses with universities across the state. for better access to talent, cutting edge research, and state of the art facilities. and you pay no taxes for ten years. from biotech in brooklyn, to next gen energy in binghamton, to manufacturing in buffalo... startup-ny has new businesses popping up across the state. see how startup-ny can help your business grow at startup.ny.gov ay... sometimes too close, which means we're always getting into each other's hair. that's why we use head & shoulders. keeps us 100% flake free, and smells gorgeous. i use it... my whole world uses it. head & shoulders. now smells better than ever. they take us to worlds full of heroes and titans. for respawn, building the best interactive entertainment begins with the cloud. this is "titanfall," the first multi-player game built and run on microsoft azure. empowering gamers around the world to interact in ways they never thought possi

but ed lavandera is on the phone. you couldn't get out of because of nearby fire? >> reporter: we were at a location that we had set up for tonight there on west florissant road, which is the site that you've seen so many burning buildings on tonight. and we were there when the buildings were being first set on fire, and we had to retreat back to this area where we had set up our location for the night. and then the building, that building that we were right behind was set on fire. we spent the last two hours trapped -- >> are you talking about the storage unit? >> reporter: the stourge unit, yeah. we were trapped behind it. and over the course of the last few hours, dozens and dozens of gunshots just outside there. and for a good hour when we were on the road, as the scene was erupting outside of the police department area there in ferguson and buildings were starting to be set on fire there along west florissant, about a mile away, there was zero police presence, for the longest time. so we are to retreat back into

i want to bring in ed lavandera, who's in ferguson tonight. first of all, talk about why this news came out tonight, speak of the timing and any reaction from the community. >> well, the time sg interesting. we have known and reported for the last few weeks that we knew there were talks. for his resignation, but one of his attorneys is telling cnn tonight that there were threats that were made against the city of ferguson police department that his resignation didn't come in by tonight, so his lawyer say ing this is what was driving, the timing of tonight's announcement. >> and what kind of threats are you talking about? >> threats against other officers, the police department, the lawyer dbt specify exactly what kind of threats were made. but enough sounds like seriously enough to make sure the resignation was offered tonight. >> has the community responded? are they reacting to it at all? >> news that many people in the city of ferguson expected to come and pretty much were demanding. it was hard to envision in any kind of way where he could

ed lavandera reporting. evan perez has been working his sources as we wait for word on the grand jury decision and he's joining us live from ferguson. what else are you learning, evan? >> reporter: wolf, the word is anticipation. we know that the grand jury came in here today, the focus is on the grand jury room, on the second floor of the justice center behind me. we know that law enforcement officials have been told that they should prepare for a decision to come out this weekend. we don't know whether that decision has been made. we don't know when that announcement will come. we were at a briefing just a couple hours ago inside the county building across the street, and they were talking about some of the rules of engagement that the police officers are being given. they've had these meetings with some of the protest groups. they've been told that they're going to respect people's constitutional rights. however, you can already tell, wolf, that there's some disagreement as to whether or not the police ar

one of the organizers spoke to our ed lavandera. >> when you talk about being effective, i think the image of you guys walking past the burned out buildings and the destruction on florissant is t left on a lot of people. >> it represents a loss of property and a loss of trust. a loss of moral credibility. and we believe that we're 99.9% of these young practitioners of democracy have protested for over 100 days, non-violently. we want to make clear that that's the message. michael brown's family want his memory to be honored by justice for him and his family but also row form of this system. we believe that that can be brought about. >> activists will march nearly 120 miles, that's about 190 kilometers, making a trip that will last them about a week. >>> meanwhile, this week in ferguson, missouri, one woman watched her business burn to the ground on tv. can you imagine? that's right after the jury made that announcement on monday. >> but like many business owners, she's very hopeful that she'll get back on her feet. george sells of our affiliate ktvi has this story. >> reporter: it sh

cnn's ed lavandera is there. ed, tell us about this. >> reporter: these are pictures of the west county center mall which is just a few miles away from where i'm at. they were here earlier at the galleria mall in st. louis and essentially shut it down for a few hours. the st. louis galleria mall has now reopened. but very tense moments inside as you see protesters changing locations and moving to different areas. here at the galley ya mall, several hundred protesters were marching and chanting through the mall, eventually laying down in various areas. several employees said the crowd started getting bigger and bigger and more agitated -- they were threatening to throw chairs inside the food court. the national guard soldiers and police officers moved in and essentially shut it down. the mall was closed for several hou hours, they were told to close down and hunker down for the protesters to finish and get moved out of the -- after they were left here, we didn't hear any reports of any arrests made here at the gal

let's go live to cnn's ed lavandera. what are police doing to prepare? >> reporter: they say they've had three months to prepare for this announcement so they've been planning not only here in the city of ferguson but throughout the st. louis area. the police chief will not be in charge of the response here in ferguson. it will be the st. louis county police department that will be in charge of the response here and the situation. the governor of missouri has declared a state of emergency, the national guard has been called up as -- to be on alert and to be ready for any potential problems that might arise. all of this, you know, very controversial. there was a militarized-type response that many people felt was too heavy handed. people have been talking about that and how the police officers will be in regular street uniforms unless they have a situation that calls for putting on the riot gear and those sorts of things. they are concerned about that appearance and say publicly for now they will be taking aims to de-escalate the situation and avoid what

>> ed lavandera, thanks so much. >>> still to come, president obama can claim a small victory.hief business correspondent christine romans is here to explain. >> that's right. voters who supported overwhelmingly republican candidates also overwhelmingly supported one of the president's signature items on hiss agenda. my name is michael. i'm 55 years old and i have diabetic nerve pain. the pain was terrible. my feet hurt so bad. it felt like hot pins and needles coming from the inside out of my skin. when i did go see the doctor, and he prescribed lyrica, it helped me. it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda-approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions, or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, slee

ed lavandera is on the streets where the protesters are starting to gather and evan is in clayton, missouri, a few miles away. that's where the grand jury met. that's where the decision and the prosecutor will make the decision of the charge or no charge. that's where we begin, with everybody. this announce. keeps getting pushed back. why? >> reporter: a lot of people aren't happy that this announcement is being made so laid. we know a lot of conversation between state officials, federal officials and the prosecutor about when to do this. the hope was that this would be done much earlier in the day. obviously, the later you go, the more chance that these protests could get out of control. that was the fear at least from law enforcement. the prosecutor, the state prosecutor here, not really listening to anyone. it is his decision. he is the one that made the call. he has decide that had this needs to be done now. we know that law enforcement is ready. they've been put on alert around the country because they expect the protests and marches will be taking place in major cities around the coun

. >> we want to get back to ed lavandera in dillwood, missouri, right next door to ferguson.o, ed, as we bring you in, we want to show some aerial shots that i understand have just come in? no, we can't go to those just yet. here we go. i think this is the aerial shot. we're seeing some cars. about three cars ablaze and there's also a building there in ferguson. so now, ed, you had trouble. you were actually caught in a building at one stage. you weren't able to get out. talk to us about the lead-up to that. once you got out on the street what you witnessed exactly. >> we started off the evening along west florissant which is where the area that had seen the brunt of the protests back in august. and as everything erupted in front of the police station in ferguson, which is about a mile away, there was no law enforcement presence. we were just down the road here about a half mile down that way. and it became a quickly chaotic scene as people went down the street setting fires to buildings. this is kind of what you're seeing here behind me at this point. as many of these fires,

last night, cnn's ed lavandera was reporting in front of one of those businesses. as it burned to the ground. right now, the store manager joins me, so does the owner of the boutique. first of all, i'm so sorry for the loss of your business. how are you holding up today when you saw what happened? >> i was sad about what happened. but i'm going to be okay. i'm going to rebuild, i can't do anything about what happened in the past. i want to go forward. and i want to rebuild. >> is it -- bertha, is a total loss right now? >> it is a total loss. but we were so encouraged by the support we've gotten from the community, we have had so many family friends and just passerby from in state, out of state that have been praying for us, wishing us well and offering us a helping hand. it's a total loss to look at it, but spirit wise -- >> there were some people in the community trying to protect your business. >> yes. >> that's got to feel good. >> real good. real good. >> does it make -- does it make sense to you? you're a local business, you know, integral in this community.

let's head straight to there to ed lavandera with the latest on darren wilson's status and how are people reacting to wilson's resignation last night? >> reporter: a lot of people who have been against darren wilson since the august shooting of michael brown say that it has taken too long to get to this point, but in many ways not a lot of people around here, whether you supported wilson or not, never really imagined any possible way darren wilson could continue on the police force. last night his attorneys released a statement on his behalf saying from darren wilson it was my hope to continue in policework, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. so darren wilson after more than three months being on paid administrative leave is now officially gone from the ferguson police department. brian? >> ed, thanks. appreciate it. i know people have strong feelings about the media's treatment about this ongoing story. i want to go back to monday when we saw buildings ablaze, stores under siege, truly a scary scene right near st. louis. with repo

our ed lavandera is with the marchers and the naacp organizers say they want to invoke the civil rights us what they hope to accomplish in the weeks ahead? >> reporter: as you mention, that's the image and the spirit and the theme they want to evoke here. the march just started, several hundred people leaving canfield street the street where michael brown was shot and killed by darren wilson back in august and it will be a seven-day, 120-mile journey from ferguson, missouri, to the state capitol in missouri and we're joined by the president of the naacp cornell williams brooks. cornell, your goal in doing this is what? >> our goal is really to bring about reform of policing in this country and an end to racial profiling. >> reporter: and you've talked about how you want to evoke the themes of the 1960s civil rights movement and the mafches from selma to montgomery. why is that important to you? >> it's important for us in 2014 to draw from the wellspring of history. the selma march began with the death of a young african-american man jimmy lee jackson. and this march begins with the dea