On the ground. We know he was at a Technical College a short time ago. He met with Community Leaders there after that. He headed to a local popular restaurant where he sat down, shook some hands. There had been some talk that mr. Holder might make his way down to the apartment complex where that shooting happened we did get word that is a possibility. I also want to call your attention to something over my shoulder here. This is the original reds barbecue. Right after that all started some 11 days ago, folks knocked out every window, they vandalized the place, tried to set it on fire. I spent time talking with the owner, manager, a short time ago. If you can see here, you can see the smoke wafting from the grill, this is a clean we have not seen a lot of in ferguson over the past nearly two weeks or so. You see cops, Police Officers talking to young men. You see black people, you see white people, young people, old people. They are sitting around, eating barbecue, theyre talking to each other. I spent time over there talk with some folks and all said pretty much the same thing, that being at that barbecue joint today, its about a lot more than the ribs. Theyre breaking bread, talking with what has been happening in ferguson over the past few days. And a lot of them are cautiously optimistic that tonight will be the second straight night of relative peace, relative calm. Craig melvin, thank pup tyou. The grand jury will continue to hear evidence for another two months. The panel is considering possible criminal charges against office wilson. Of course protocol is that its all done in secret, but any criminal indictment wont come until mid october if at all. The protesters are calling for justice and to many of them, that starts with charging wilson. Were peaceful. We want answers. Put your hands up. Dont shoot. If officer wilson isnt arrested and charged ae aint going to be in a no peace. So you had craig describing a more calm experience today. Yesterday they were urging protests to be during the day. What are you seeing on the ground there, are things calming down . Right now it is about as clear and calm as weve seen. People come out all day, they clean up in the morning, they spend the day up and down the block protesting peacefully. And then sometime after dak ngs, things start to flare. So were hoping for a second night in a row, that hopefully wont happen. A letter from the ferguson pd to the community outlined several really important commitments that the Police Department want to make to the people. Really important stuff. Getting more black people to apply to the Law Enforcement kad any and neighboring community, getting a better relationship with the community between the police force and the community, and perhaps most important, a pledge to get cameras on officers and in officer squad cars, really important stuff. These are important commitments. Are people on the ground talking about these things an saying this will make a difference . People are talking about this a lot. Its hard this probably hundreds of interviews with folks on the grouchbd, its hard to find a black man or black woman who has not talked about the pattern of Police Brutality or profiling or some other unjustice they have suffered at the hands of the police. So there is certainly a cut off of trust and people do believe and have talked about adding more officers of color to the force as something that can make a difference. And this is obviously a story about ferguson, its about the heartbreak and tragedy there, protesters on the ground obviously want justice for Michael Brown, want justice for the family. But to me, this is it also a National Wakeup Call because a lot of the circumstances that you see in ferguson from des desegregati desegregation, deindustrialization that left folks with no good job, to the poor school testimony, these are conditions that not to mention the biassed employment of justice, they exist across the country. Ferguson is a suburb ban community. In 2000, the poverty rates were much lower. The darker the blue on the maps, the dealership the poverty. From 2000 to 2012, a huge increase in poverty in ferguson and other suburban community there is in st. Louis. You can also see that same rise in suburban poverty across the country. So is there also a sense among protesters that this isnt just about ferguson, this is about political changes that need to happen across the country . You echo a lot of points that people on the ground are making. They say this is about us, but it could happen anywhere. So the focus of the story is a young boy who is dead. But as you note, there is a lot of system he can reas of syst of systemic reasons that led up to the encounter. Until we address those, we cant repair the breach. Alex, the media is also a big part of the story. Just 20, 30 years ago, this would only be played out during the prime time hours of the day. But we now live in a world where you have tweeters and bloggers and instragramers, many people view them as journalists and in some ways you can say thats great thing because they can highlight some of the real issues that are going on, but they can also encourage bad behavior as captain johnson alluded to last night, saying some journalists glamorize acts of crime when they refuse to move out of the way when asked to. Youve been on the ground covering this for days now. What is your response it all of that, how have you viewed the way journalists have covered this from all angles is th angl . Reporter its a tricky issue and i dont want to generalize because there are a lot of reports of harrowing encounters with the police. That has not been my experience. I have found they have been obliging about letting me do my job as far as insofar as it doesnt put them in danger, but no question this has raced a lot of issues about press freedom. Only thing i would add, i do think that the rising focus on the freedom of the press and the treatment of journalists does detract a bit from the nub of the story. This is about a dead boy, as we said the conditions that led up for it, frankly sometimes wild events that have unfolded since. And, you know, it is great insofar as its possible for reporters to avoid becoming the focus of the story. But it isnt always possible. I think thats a good point. And alex, we heard from governor jay nixon that he will not appoint a special prosecutor. I think its safe to say there is a lot of mistrust between the Africanamerican Community and the st. Louis county prosecutor Bob Mcculloch not to mention a decent amount of distrust between the African American community and governor jay nixon. What are you hearing from folks there on the ground about that decision . Reporter i know that folks are upset about the decision. You dont hear folks bringing Governor Nixon up a lot as the target of their ire. They have spoken mostly about their mistreatment at the hands of the Ferguson Police and more broadly the st. Louis county police force. Many people have said once you cross the line from the city of st. Louis into the county, officers are much more apt to target them. So they have been focusing sort of the divide and mistrust much more at the cops than the politicians. Alex, thank you. Eric holder is now on the ground in ferguson meeting with local leaders and Law Enforcement. Well go back to the ground. Plus no break from the news for president obama. 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With millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. With millions of reviews, at legalzoom you virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. Now its quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. At legalzoom. Com we put the law on your side. That, my friends, is everything. And with the quicksilver card from capital one, you earn unlimited 1. 5 cash back on everything you purchase. Not just everything at the hardware store. Not everything, until you hit your cash back limit. Quicksilver can earn you unlimited 1. 5 cash back on everything you could possibly imagine. Say it with me everything. One more time, everything and with that in mind. Whats in your wallet . Right now attorney general eric holder is on the ground in ferguson one day after he received the results of the nearly autopsy on Michael Brown. We still dont know the results of that autopsy. He is meeting right now with Community Leaders, the fbi, st. Louis field office and federal prosecutors. Leanne gregg is there. And how is the attorney general being received thus far . Reporter so far hes being received very well. His first stop this morning after arriving in missouri was at the community college, he met with some students there. As well as some local figures, some local Community Leaders. He right now is having lunch at a cafe in town, its called drakes place. While there, he actually ran into captain ron johnson who is in charge of security here in ferguson. He has been since the protests erupted. He was named a few days into the round of protests. And he said, my man, you are the man. He was saying that to captain johnson. And he told him to keep up the good work. Also today there was a letter that he had issued to the public, released in the local newspaper, where he promised full resources to the investigation. In that message, he said at a time when so much seems uncertain, people of ferguson can have confidence that the Justice Department sbepd intend learn exactly what happened. So his trip here in addition to fact finding and gathering information from federal prosecutors and fbi investigators and local authorities is to calm this community at a time when there has been so much unrest. Leanne gregg continuing our coverage from ferguson. Thank you so much for that report. And from washington, lets bring in ron hosko, he was the head of the f bchlbfbi criminal investi upt unit. Feds are investigating possible civil rights violations. What is the fbi role on the ground right now . Right now its fact finding. It is to find witnesses, to identify the details and nuances of the investigation. In all likelihood to work hand in glove with the local investigation ongoing. And to make sure all of the facts are known. These investigations take a fair amount of time. If you recall, in the rodney king case, we went two whole years between the beating and the federal trial on simple rights charges. So with eric holder going in and basically saying have confidence in the federal investigation, and the need to take a deliberative approach to it, what can the fbi do in the meantime to build that confidence and demonstrate that the vehicle is proceeding at pace . Well, i do think that the attorney generals presence in ferguson today is a reflection of the commitment. Recently its been recorded that some 40 fbi agents are on the ground. I can tell that you severk telc ago, i was acting head of the office for a month. It is a very capable feable fie office. Their job is to dig up the facts, look at witness statements, pick them apart. See what is true and what is not. So so far we do not have the results of the federal autopsy. And its likely we wont get those results until the investigation is over. Who knows long that will take. But give us a sense of what we might be able to take away from this autopsy. Is there anything we will learn that might change this case or change the narrative . For example, like the size of the Bullet Wounds in the body. Will that be able to tell us it Michael Brown were running towards the con or if he was in fact running away . Well, this is reallypn or ifn fact running away . Well, this is really or if h fact running away . Well, this is really of creating a mosaic. You have pieces of facts that the job of the fb eflt a bchlfb prosecutors and Defense Attorneys to the seextent they needed to put the mosaic in a way that maekes sense to the grand jury. That includes the autopsies. I dont expect within the three that you will see dramatic change. So you take the results of the autopsy, of Laboratory Examinations that may give you powder residue from the expulsion from the firearm, where the officers rounds landed on the pavement. So that you can calculate measurements between the two people that were engaged in the encounter. Peeling the layers back on the witness interviews to find out what is fact and what has been created. As i mentioned earlier, Governor Nixon did decide to leave the prosecutor in place, not to appoint a special prosecutor for this particular investigation. We heard from Bob Mcculloch earlier. Lets take a listen. I understand that there is some legitimately believe or honestly believe i should say that they dont think im best suited for this case. And thats fine. I understand that. Nobodys not everybody is allege happy with what is going on. But what im trying to convey to them is that ive got that responsibility. Im not walking away from it. African american leaders in the area have been clear that they c do not trustulloch. Do you think a special prosecutor should have been appointed . I think its premature to make that decision. Presumably this district attorney, this prosecutor, is a person who has the trust of the people who put him there. Hes functioned effectively over time. I understand that there are some issues in his background. But to put it in a bigger perspective, there are some in the community weve seen in the news who knew the desired result on day one without having any facts. And thats the purpose of an investigation. Both at the local and federal level. Its to find what the real facts are, not have this word of mouth and leaping to conclusions. Last night, the governor himself made some comment about having a speedy prosecution. And whether that was a slip of the tongue or a pandering to some of the people to tamp down the violence, that to me is out of line for a chief executive who in all likelihood almost certainly doesnt know the facts collected by the fbi agents there. I dont know how he could get to that conclusion. So i think that is troubling. Having transparency, having trust, and having respect is actually a two way street here. Thats fair pip want to get your thoughts on one more issue here before we go. This investigation or eventual prosecution is extraordinarily important, but it is of limited long term value to the people who understand this is a National Problem and a structural problem. However this case ends up going, what these folks protesting really need and folks who are with them really need is a new and different relationship with their Police Departments. And that transparency could come from body cams and dash cams. What do you think about that . I dont disagree with that and i know that a number of Police Departments around the country are looking at lapel cams. Dash cams have approach beneficial in the past. Not only to disprove false allegations, but to give the police and prosecutors evidence where Violent Crimes occur and it is just that camera that ends up being the witness to the event because a Police Officer is killed. As i mentioned, trust and respect and trance parns i, i think there is a need for a new da dialogue in our country. Police across this country are victims of violence assaults every day. About every 58 hours, in our country, over time, another Law Enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty. A 3450i8 from me is a memorial with 20,000 plus names of dead Law Enforcement officers. Every year, somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 as suggesault police are reported. So this is a two way street. There are those in the community who believe theyre under attack and certainly the police are under attack. And that is a great point to point out the fact that everyone would benefit from better relations between the police and between the community. Ron, thank you so much. And still ahead, why its not an option for the president to go to ferguson. But next, breaking news. Are additional u. S. Troops headed to iraq . What nbc has learned about the new request for more boots on the ground. Did you know, your eyes can lose vital nutrients as you age . [ male announcer ] thats why theres ocuvite to help replenish key eye nutrients. Ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. Ocuvite. Help protect your eye health. Ocuvite. This is bill. His doubleheader day at the park starts with back pain. And a choice. Take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. Peanuts peanuts crowd cheers back now with breaking news. The state department is asking for more u. S. Troops in iraq. The request calls for up to 300 additional u. S. Service members to beef up security at the ugs embassy this baghdad and u. S. Facilities at the baghdad airport. That news coming shortly after president obama condemned the brutal killing of american journalist james foley by isis and vowed to do anything necessary to protect american lives. Today the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of jim