Happened. Attorney general eric holder went to ferguson today while controversy intensifies around the District Attorney who refused to step aside and let the shooting of Michael Brown be handled by a special prosecutor. Eric holder goes to ferguson. Meeting with Community Leaders. The family of Michael Brown. Particularly wants to reassure africanamericans. That the Justice Department is on the case. We ran into captain ron johnson. Their voices are heard. Calls for the county prosecutor to be replaced. I have no intention of walking away. People are losing faith in this process. The grand jury began hearing testimony today. Protests outside the courthouse has expressed distrust for the county prosecutor. A night of relative calm. No molotov cocktails. No bullets. Like a lion charging a gazelle. The big question, will it get violent today . No justice, no peace thunderstorms are rolling into ferguson, missouri tonight. Obviously well have some impact we expect on what will be happening on the streets there. After a relatively peaceful night of protests last night, attorney general eric holder visited the area today where he met with the parts of 18yearold Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson on august 9. Before meeting with fbi investigators and officials from the u. S. Attorneys office, attorney general holder spoke about the federal investigation in the death of Michael Brown. Our investigation is different from that which the state is doing. We are looking for violations of federal criminal civil rights statutes from what the local investigation is. But we have brought a substantial number of people here who have done a great job and the canvassing they did over the past weekend, they continued to follow leads so that we can do a thorough and fair job in making a determination about what happened on august 9. Im confident that through the ability of these people we will be able to make a determination about whether or not any federal statutes have in fact been violated. The attorney generals day in ferguson also included a meeting with Community Leaders at st. Louis Community College and lunch at a local restaurant where he had the chance to speak with missouri Highway Patrol captain ron johnson who has been leading the security efforts on the ground in ferguson. Eric holder met with a handful of students while at the st. Louis Community College. He listened to us. I felt he was really listening to us. He really took heed who what we said. We just need some answers and changes. And we need some information. By him being here now gave us inspiration. Eric holder ended his day meeting with officials, including governor jay nixon. Joining me from ferguson, trymaine lee, reporter for msnbc. Com. Youve got some rain there tonight. What else is going on there . Reporter not much. The rain has been steady, not too heavy. But you cant see behind me, but its relatively thin. Theres a small but committed group marching up and down through the rain. But ever since last night, its been quiet and calm. There are only maybe a couple hundred people out here, maybe. Very thin crowd tonight. We do have live video of the area. There isnt much to see as you say. Is this kind of where the rhythm of this felt like it was going tonight, into a quieter night there . Reporter it really did. From last night, the police shifted tactics. Instead of creating lines, forcing people inside, they allowed people to move freely. Even when it got a little chippy later in the evening, when one threw a bottle, instead of gassing the entire place with everyone in it, the peaceful protesters, as well as those getting chippy, they targeted individuals and physically extracted them. They maced one person and tackling another one, they hit him with the butt of their gun but extracted him. So they had a much more targeted approach. And it was kind of a shocking confusion strategy. They told us to move this direction, then this direction, the media has to separate. It was a different kind of aggression last night. But without any tear gas, without the bullets. It was a much calmer night than nights previous. Im wondering what youve been hearing people on the street talking about today. Theres a couple of big stories. First of all, the attorney general of the United States came there today. Im wondering what impact that has had. And then also, this kind of almost this battle thats breaking out between the governor and the District Attorney on the case. They are trading very angry statements on this. Reporter in terms of the prosecutor and the governor, its disconcerting for people. They already dont trust the system. They dont trust the players in the system. They dont have any faith in mcculloch. They dont feel they can properly investigate in a transparent manner. On the other side, i talked to folks in that meeting with attorney general eric holder and they walked away with a sense of hope, that attorney general eric holder understands them. When he came in five years ago, he said civil rights is going to be a hallmark of his time in office. And with Trayvon Martin last year, he relayed his story about his experience as a black man, his experience with Police Officers. He did it again today in speaking with Young College students. So these kids walked away feeling that he is here. Had attorney general eric holder not been an africanamerican, without those experiences, i dont think he would be here today. Trymaine lee, thanks for joining us. Thank you very much. Joining us now by phone from ferguson is wesley bell, professor of criminal justice at st. Louis Community College and a Municipal Court judge. He met with eric holder earlier today. Professor bell, tell us how that meeting went. It was a very positive meeting. Mr. Holder was very inspiring, but also realistic. So it was a very positive meeting. I want to listen to what captain ron johnson said about eric holders visit today. Lets listen to that. I guess i think it had a great impact. It shows the people of ferguson, the people of st. Louis, to our nation, that their voices are heard, that the highest office in this land is listening to their voices. And is taking a look into the incident that happened here. Wesley bell, do the people there understand the unprecedented nature of this federal response, that theres never been an incident like this, a killing by police that has received this much president ial comment, this much president ial attention, and this much attention from the attorney general . It is a unique situation. As an educator, our classes started this week and i talked to my students about just that. This is one of those, where were you moments in history. And i think that out of tragic circumstances like these are opportunities for us to address very important issues that have been for far too long swept under the rug. I want to get your local perspective on this public fight thats broken out between the governor and the District Attorney in this case, the governor saying that he will not use his power to remove the District Attorney and appoint the special prosecutor. The District Attorney oddly insisting publicly that the governor does have that Legal Authority to remove him from the case. In effect, daring the governor to do it. You know, i think its an unfortunate circumstance, set of circumstances. Ive had a chance to meet both of them at different times, mr. Mcculloch through professional circumstances as an attorney. I dont know him personally. But i do know our elected leaders need to set a precedent or tone of confidence so the public feels confident and that justice is being served. And i think that, you know, again, i dont know mr. Mcculloch personally, but my one constructive criticism would be that the comments that are coming out of the office dont arent they arent inspiring. They arent encouraging. They seem to be something other than transparency. And i think that understand that the world is watching, and let us feel that this situation is being handled transparentally. Wesley bell, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you. Coming up, today is the first day that a grand jury has heard testimony or evidence in the Michael Brown case. Marcia clark will join me on that. And by now youve probably heard reports that there are conflicting witness accounts of the killing of Michael Brown. That so far those reports about the conflicting witness accounts conflict with the truth. The truth about what the witnesses have been saying is in tonights rewrite. 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There will be some information presented to the grand jury today, and theyll have their regular duties, too. Were not going to rush anything in or rush anything through, but as things are completed, they will be presented to the grand jury. That was st. Louis county District AttorneyRobert Mcculloch today on the first day that a 12member grand jury heard evidence in the shooting death of 18yearold Michael Brown. He told the st. Louis today newspaper that the grand jury was selected this past spring and it includes three africanamericans. The prosecutor told reporters that his office has not interviewed Darren Wilson, the Police Officer who killed Michael Brown. Today, he repeatedly addressed calls for his recusal and he had some very angry words for missouri governor jay nixon. The most devastating thing that can happen is if a week or month from now he decides hes taking me off this case. Then everybody is starting over. So stand up, man up, stand up and say i have this authority. Im not removing mcculloch, i am removing mcculloch, and lets get on this. This family deserves nothing less than that. Later in the day when he was again asked about recusing himself, he choked up as he addressed the speculation that he is biased. I know the pain that goes with the loss of a loved one to violence. I know what its like to look back years later and see what my mother had to put up with. Raising the four of us without her husband and companion. And i know what it was like to look back and watch my mother grow old and die without the man she loved at her side. So i know the pain of that, and the fact that he was a Police Officer killed in the line of duty had nothing to do with any of that. What it did did it affect me . Absolutely it affected me. What it did for me is made me, i think, a fierce advocate to the end of violence. I know what the brown family is going through right now. But protesters worry that experience made him a fierce advocate for Police Officers. And they do not have much confidence in mcculloch or his record on prosecuting Police Shootings. Have you ever charged an officer criminally in a shooting . You know, right now i cant i dont know about a shooting. I know weve charged cases where theres a use of excessive force. Whether that involved a shooting or not, off the top of my head, i say that and i cant think of any, but thats probably not a situation. Joining me now is former prosecutor marcia clark, and also joining me is jim cavanaugh, former atf special agent in charge. Marcia, i dont think people realize how unprecedented this situation is. Attorney general flying in to a local jurisdiction like this at this stage, this early stage of an investigation. Stimulating 40 fbi agents to do even more, while you have this District Attorney going on talkradio angrily challenging the governor to man up and fire him. All of it is unprecedented. Just to give you some kind of balance or to complete your perspective on this, when the rodney king trial happened, with four, five Police Officers being charged, riots happened as a result of that. The city burned. The doj did not show up. There was no talk about the District Attorney was not facing off anybody. I just think his the way hes handling this right now is not a good idea. We need to inspire confidence and a sense of calm and dignity about the manner in which we proceed with this. To have them playing this game of youre a chicken, no, youre a chicken is the last thing we need. If the governor has the power, he should do whatever he chooses to do. But this is not good. Jim cavanaugh, again, weve never seen anything like it. What would you suggest at this point that the District Attorney, how the District Attorney should conduct himself through this proceeding, assuming hes going to stay on the case . Well, what i would say is, you know, the case needs to move expeditiously, not a rush to judgment, not sweeping or changing facts. But it needs to move expeditiously because it is a Police Shooting and a crisis situation for the community. We never handled big crisis in communities like an everyday case. It seems the time frame is being handled like any other everyday case, but its not. I was one of the top commanders on the d. C. Sniper case. When the sniper shot somebody in the middle of the night, we drove the bullet to the atf laboratory and had the bullet examined right now. We didnt put it in the cue for six or eight weeks, because thats normally the time it would take to do. It was a crisis. We had to react it. We were heleaders. I dont think you should make a decision if you dont have probable cause. I think if you do have probable cause, you should get a warrant, like marcia dasaid last night, d we agreed on, get a warrant, make an arrest if probable cause exists and then it should go through due process. Well get justice. They might have to have a change of venue. The slow walking of it is what disturbs me the most and the public spat between the leaders is just unseemly. Lets listen to what the governor said he expects of this District Attorney. A vigorous prosecution must now be pursued. The county prosecutor and the attorney of the United States each have a job to do. Their obligation to achieve justice in the shooting death of Michael Brown must be carried out thoroughly, promptly, and correctly. And i call upon them to meet those expectations. And the District Attorney is saying that this governor has his mind made up about the case already. I dont know how he can say that based on the comments im seeing. I dont see that. If he does, if hes right, then the governor should stop talking about it. Everybody should stop talking about it. Theres no way we know yet. Lets hear the evidence and the part of the problem i had with the grand jury is we wont. And i really think we should. I think that everyone should be able to hear it. Thats why i was saying last night we ought to have a preliminary hearing where theres a public forum and everybody can hear what the witnesses have to say and see them examined and cross examined. Thats what will inspire confidence and give people a sense they know whats going on, whether they like it or not. Were watching hive images of whats going on in ferguson right now. In the rain, not much going on. Jim cavanaugh, as a former federal agent, tell me what its like when the attorney general flies halfway across the country to show up to look over your shoulder how things are going in the investigation. That must be an energizing experience for the federal agents. Well, its a big deal. Ive met eric holder a couple of times when he was the Deputy