still waiting, no word at this hour from the ferguson grand jury or any officials on when a decision might be announced. a live report on how long that might take. still at war, move today by the white house, a move there could push back a key time line for u.s. troops in afghanistan. new today, another cosby accuser talks about accepting an invitation from the comedian to fly to las vegas and then tells us what happened next. in buffalo, a nightmare storm that could get worse but for a different reason. we have a number of reports from the snowbound scene.

good saturday, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex on this afternoon. thanks for joining us. we start in ferguson, missouri, this afternoon. it is waiting, a decision is expected anytime now from the grand jury, hearing evidence in the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown by police officer darren wilson. three people were arrested last night during a protest march in ferguson and participants in a rally for peace voiced hope that any protest after the decision are not violent. >> there's more positive things happening in our community versus just violence and riots. >> we can always make a statement without being violent. you just need to be heard. >> everybody comes together, peace and not violence. after what happened last time, you just destroyed your own city. there's no need to do it a second time. >> nbc's kcraig melvin is in ferguson right now. we heard from those young people saying, no violence, let's think about peace, but let's also think about goodwill.

and i understand you're right around the corner from the michael brown house. they were just giving away something. >> reporter: yeah, we were maybe a quarter of a mile away from the apartment complex where michael brown was shot and killed on august 9th. and it was a very powerful scene, richard lu win. you had michael brown sr. out and about on this saturday afternoon before thanksgiving giving away free turkeys. he went to the grocery store and bought more than 70 turkeys and spent the better part of the afternoon giving away those turkeys to folks who live in this apartment complex. i asked him, i got to spend some time with him. just about ten minutes, i walked with him, we chatted. i said, what are you doing? here's an entire community, an entire country waiting for a decision from the grand jury and you're giving away turkeys. what's the thinking here? he looked at me and he said, it's about giving back. these are the people that looked

after my son after he was shot and killed. he said, the least i could do is help some of them have a better thanksgiving. it was a very powerful scene. he didn't have a lot of folks with him. he was just out with a bunch of turkeys that he bought at the grocery store. i did ask him about the grand jury decision and what was going through his mind as he waited to hear about what might happen to the police officer who shot his son. and he said, he wouldn't talk about that, he couldn't talk about that. but he did say that it continues to be his faith, continues to be his faith that gets him through. he also spent some time talking about the so-called michael brown law. this is a law that he is working with his organization to try and get passed in state legislatures around the country. it would, among other things, require police officers to wear body cameras. that has become his cause. so michael brown sr., as we speak, as we all wait for that decision to come down, the father of the 18-year-old who was shot and killed in an

apartment complex around the corner, is trying to help folks have a better thanksgiving. >> craig, you have made that walk down to michael brown's house many, many a time. how is it different today? what were the sentiments like coming from those of ferguson when they stopped to talk to you? >> reporter: you know, it's a good question, richard. one of the things that really struck me, this makeshift memorial. they've got this -- we have some video that we'll get back to you here in a little bit. but the teddy bears and the balloons and the flowers and the candles, the things that were placed there in the days and weeks after michael brown's death, that memorial has actually grown. now there are two memorials. a lot of the flowers obviously have died. but a lot of the stuff that was in the street, a lot of the stuff that was off to the side, that stuff is still there. not only is it still there, when folks who approach in their cars, they slow down.

when folks are walking by, they're very careful to avoid this memorial that is very much in the middle of the street. the people who live in that apartment complex, these are working class people. they don't have a lot of money sitting around. these are people who first of all were very grateful to get these turkeys but are also -- a number of them have said this. they are very grateful that we haven't forgotten this story. so very often, we descend upon something. after a day or two, we're gone. this has not been one of those instances. and foeklks in that community recognize that. >> it's an emotional sight, very powerful location there that you describe with those two shrines. we'll be touching base with you later, chris matthews. thank you for your reporting there. >> reporter: thank you. to the middle east now where in a surprise move here, the president has expanded the role of u.s. troops in afghanistan beyond this year. "the new york times" breaking the story and nbc news confirmed

it saying, quote, mr. obama's order allows american forces to carry out missions against the taliban and other militant groups threatening american troops or the afghan government. kristen welker is traveling with the president in las vegas. kristen, what do we know about in terms of what led to this decision that we're just hearing about? >> reporter: well, according to "the new york times" which did break this story, this decision was a result in part of the fact that you have islamic militants getting stronger in iraq and because there's a new president in afghanistan who not only welcomed this move but also asked for it. a senior administration official confirming for our pentagon team that u.s. troops could be engaged in offensive operations into this coming year. that's of course after combat operations were supposed to end. just to recap that time line, the u.s. military was supposed to take a big step back at the start of the new year, only training, advising and assisting afghan forces. but the move suggests that u.s.

forces will remain in an offensive forces, possibly engage in combat after that date. according to one official, their operations could include missions like targeting the taliban and haqqani networks. they say they won't carry out regular patrols. one official said, quote, we will no longer target belligerents solely because they are members of the taliban, to the extent that taliban members directly threaten the united states and coalition forces in afghanistan or provide direct support to al qaeda. however, we will take appropriate measures to keep americans safe. and there is a new president in afghanistan who has a very different relationship with the united states. the united states feeling encouraged that they'll actually have a stronger working relationship with this president than the former president, hamid karzai. >> thank you so much. nbc white house correspondent there with the president, appreciate it. thank you. no injuries but a plane full

of shaken-up passengers on an american airlines flight. a bus slammed into the plane in atlanta. the plane was taken in for repairs and the ntsb is investigating how the accident happened. a san francisco window wash s er is in criminal condition after falling 11 stories onto a moving car. he slipped from the scaffolding, he fell, the driver of the car was not hurt. and the bio bus has arrived. it's now operating in western england. that bus that hit the street on thursday is fueled by biomethane gas. a spokesperson for the company says the bus is actually great for the environment. >> the carbon emissions are 20%, 30% less than what you would typically see in a diesel bus.

>> the bus can travel 186 miles on one tank of fuel. there's a new and potentially greater threat as temperatures rise in buffalo. we have the issue of flooding. nbc's chris pollone joins us with more on this area in new york. that is the concern. as the snow gets wet, it gets heavier. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, richard. ordinari ordinarily, this light rain that's falling and the temperature rising going up into the 40s today, 50s tomorrow, 60s on monday, that would normally be good news but not with six or seven or eight feet of snow as they have here in western new york. as you mentioned, this rain that's coming is going to weigh down this snow. all this snow that fell now is going to melt very rapidly over the next few days.

so the concern is that there's going to be flooding throughout western new york and also many of these homes that have that heavy snow cover on top could face structural problems, roofs collapsing, because of the weight that's going to be put on this. so leaders here are really concerned about that. they're asking people to use today to try and clean off their property, clean out storm drains, things of that nature, to get ready for the rain that's coming this way. >> chris, as we look at what the local officials are doing, we've seen some roof collapses and some homes still having several feet on the roof. what are the local authorities doing to prepare and help the residents there? are they putting out more crews? are they bringing in structural engineers? >> reporter: yes, all of that, as a matter of fact. there are crews -- structural engineers are going out in teams of eight taking a look at different buildings throughout this metro area. the state of new york has brought in a lot of extra

resources. we're talking about 180,000 sandbags, 30 large trucks, 50 boats with crews, so that if flooding begins, they can quickly go out and rescue. there are teams that have come in from as far away as new york city to try and help any rescue efforts that might need to take place over the next several days. so the state and the local leaders are in the position that they are doing everything that they can, bringing in people from all over the place to try to make sure that once something starts to go wrong here, they will have the ability to make it right very quickly. >> chris, just still so amazing. we're like a week in on this. but november 22nd and all that stuff still sitting behind you. and now they're bringing out the boats. what a story line we're watching there in western new york. thank you for your time today. it's already begun. the fight on capitol hill over immigration reform. will republicans lose a generation of latino voters or do they really have a plan? who gets to stay in the u.s. and who might have to go.

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president obama's moving forward on his new immigration initiative. his plan will protect from deportation more than 4 million undocumented parents of children born in the u.s. it shields children who arrived before 2010 from deportation. deportations will now focus on new arrivals, criminals and national security threats. it will also commit more resources at the u.s./mexico border. the president went on the road to las vegas yesterday to sell his plan. let's bring in the president of the victory latino project and a republican strategist and former john mccain adviser. thank you both for being here on a saturday. i'll start with you, cristobal. you were at the victory project. are you claiming victory? >> we are but it's just a first

step. >> is it enough? >> the only way we'll have enough is when congress does what it needs to do. americans sent them there for a job. that job is to legislate and the legislation that's required at this point is to close the deal completely. what we need to see is comprehensive immigration reform. we need them to pass a bill. >> when we look at this here, is this an opportunity for republicans to work closely with the democrats, ie., jeff lake, the senator who says, this is an opening, we can poke the president back a little bit but we can also come forward with an idea that might bring us all together? >> there was an opportunity before the president's announcement. but the president of the united states has sabotaged immigration reform as he's done his entire career -- >> sabotage? >> he voted against immigration reform when he was a senator. when he had ample majority, there wasn't all this rhetoric. he never had a plan to do so. sabotage, for this reason -- >> why? >> because there is now absolutely no goodwill and no political reason for the

republican party to advance immigration reform because the president wanted to make it a political issue. this is a shrewd political move on the part of the president -- >> i'll let you answer that. >> that's an absurd statement. we've waited 510 days for action by congress. the senate passed a bill with bipartisan support. it languished because house republican leadership wouldn't let a bill come to the floor. because of the extreme failure by the republicans in congress, the president has finally taken action. it's the right step and a first step. there is, as you pointed out, an incredible opportunity for republicans to -- >> even democrats are saying, maybe the president should not go it alone here. there are some prominent voices saying, this is not a good precedent to set despite the fact that he promised action on his own. how would you answer that? >> i wouldn't call it precedent setting. we've had 39 instances where

presidents have acted on their own to shield folks from deportation. the first president bush shielded 40% of all undocumented folks, family members of those that would have qualified under reagan's amnesty. it's a tailored act by the president. i would call it a very important first step. >> for his administration, perhaps, though? >> the first thing is the president has clearly exceeded his authority. those other presidents acted under underlying statutes to take those actions. this is an important point. since my friend keeps talking about inaction, for two years, the president had ample majorities in the congress to put through his obamacare. where was the clamor when he promised in the first 100 days he would have immigration reform? he had a veto-proof and a filibuster-proof senate and congress, and did not ask. this has been a political football by the democrats from the get-go.

this has been around for years when president bush was trying to resolve the problem and president obama was working against those efforts. >> i want to get to -- say it's a political football. let's make this a practical football. let's get down to it. what can republicans do next? >> the republican party is going to do the following things. take every single step possible to make sure that the funding and other mechanisms are not in place for this illegal action in the first instance. secondly, there will be comprehensive immigration reform. it will probably take till 2017 when this president is out of office because there's a lack of confidence in this president. it's very difficult to believe in this president and to take his word. so i think it's very difficult to have an immigration reform bill while barack obama's in office. >> americans sent their representatives to congress to do a job. that job is to legislate. all we're seeing right now are

members of congress complaining, whining, running off to fox news and trying to file a lawsuit. the next thing, they're going to try to shut down the government -- >> what do you want them to do? >> we need to work together. this is not a partisan issue. this is an american issue. >> what's the one thing that republicans need to do now? >> too bad my friend wasn't haggling against nancy pelosi when she was speaker of the house and harry reid and they had ample majorities to act on this. they did nothing -- >> you said that before. i want to focus on what republicans can do now, even senator mccain who you advised before said we should have had a vote on this. >> we should have a vote on this. we will have pieces of immigration reform. we're not going to have a large obamacare-like bill moving forward. the speaker of the house said he's committed to doing it. but we have to undo aspects of

this illegal executive action before we can have a comprehensive bill enacted by the congress. a real bill. >> you're saying piecemeal? >> that makes no sense. what he's saying for the millions of people that this shields, it's keeping families together, making our country safer, adding billions to the tax base. he wants to undo that now, send everybody back to the shadows. we're not going to deport 11 million people. this is a carefully crafted plan that protects about 4.9 million people who don't have the right papers -- >> hang on a second. >> they're not americans. >> when we see these faces that we have, these undocumented immigrants that are now saying, now we can be together, we're a family. when you see these faces and those stories, what do you say to them? >> well, there's something called respect for the rule of law. to change the law, we have to change it through the congressional process. we just had an election.

the other guy's party lost badly. the voice of the american people, most of the american people are against this illegal executive amnesty. it's a process. it's a conversation. different aspects of what immigration reform should look like. >> our polls also show, though, that they do not support what the republicans are doing. last word to you. >> what i'll say here is now that we've had the rally in vegas and the president outlined the contours of this plan, you're going to see the polls change. i really hope we can work together on this. >> i hope so, too. >> i love this conversation. >> i hope we can, too. >> i enjoyed our conversation. >> thank you. >> appreciate both of your time today. a breakdown of what could come from the grand jury at any moment. plus, more on what nbc's chris matthews saw today in ferguson, missouri. the father of michael brown handing out turkeys for thanksgiving. usiness pro. maestro of project management.

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a grand jury decision in the michael brown shooting investigation that could come at any time. brown was shot and killed in august by ferguson officer darren wilson. the st. louis county grand jury has been hearing evidence since august 20th. the grand jury could decide that officer wilson could be charged with and face trial for second-degree murder which could carry a 10 to 30-year sentence or voluntary manslaughter which carries a 15-year maximum. involuntary manslaughter in the first or second degree are also possible charges the grand jury could hand down. the grand jury could decide not to charge wilson at all as well. let's bring in a criminal defense and civil rights attorney who specializes in police misconduct. thanks for being with us here today, john. of those that we just described, which do you think they're going to come out with? >> well, the way i see it, it is more likely that there's not going to be an indictment. however, if there is an indictment, it will undoubtably be in the issue of involuntary manslaughter at most.

the reason why i say that, there was a fight at the car, whatever started and then shots were fired. michael brown takes off. at the end of that running, he is then shot. the question is whether or not the officer himself was still under the heat of passion of that moment and whether michael brown had his hands up. if he had his hands up and he had been running, then the officer, i think, should have been able to see that and therefore it would be voluntary manslaughter. on the other hand, if there wasn't that much time in between, when the officer was chasing him, he was shooting him, shooting at him, michael brown turned around, if the officer perceives he's still coming toward him, the officer could use deadly force under those circumstances and there would be no indictment. there's a good range here. but it all turns on, seems to me, the independent witnesses. did he have his hands up? how long did he have his hands up? where the bullets came into his hands? was the entry into the body consistent with his hands up or hands falling down or was his

body falling? those are critically important issues that a grand jury is wrestling with. that's why they had to have both pathologists to make sure they didn't miss thing. but this was presented as a trial rather than just a grand jury indictment. here they put on the entire case. therefore, making a decision that if this case were to go to trial, this is the likely outcome. i think that's what the prosecutor had in mind. he didn't want to just have preliminary evidence on or probable cause. he wanted all the evidence so when it's over, he could really know whether or not -- >> are they allowed to do that based on the way you're describing this? shouldn't they wait for a trial? that's not necessarily what they've been required to perform -- >> it is hardly ever done. i've never seen this. new york city has plenty of grand juries. other states -- they never do that. so he made a decision that he didn't want to have a case where you had likely probable cause because you could have that but

still have this other evidence that might suggest this person would be found not guilty. kind of a trayvon martin situation. he wanted to have all the evidence before a grand jury, essentially 12 people. smart move on his part but not how it's typically done. >> outsiders looking in, you and me watching here, the timing, we have heard that they may be in meetings still, they may not be. it's been back and forth. the timing, we think it's going to be sometime this weekend. what's your thought? >> well, i would have thought that when they had the discussion around the officer negotiating whether he's going to resign or not, that that was an indication that the police department believed that an indictment was not going to be issued and that was going to happen very shortly. but then i heard there was testimony given yesterday. if that's so, a decision was either reached then or they're going to wait until they convene next week and have more evidence. or they may not meet next week because it's thanksgiving. i thought it might happen this

weekend. if not, i think it's going to happen shortly because when the governor and others have said that the schools are going to be out, that's an indication that somebody believes that the decision is going to be made. you have to say the national guard cannot be on duty for an endless period of time. so the governor must have had some indication it was going to happen very, very soon. >> we have talked about this before. what does the family there of michael brown, what can they do, regardless of what might come down from the grand jury, what can they do outside of it? >> well, obviously, from their point of view, if no indictment was coming down, they certainly have their civil claim against the department and the officer. that's clear, they can do that. it's a civil rights claim. that's pretty common. that can happen notwithstanding. other than that, they can ask the federal government obviously to look to see whether civil rights violations are there from a criminal point of view. that's not likely. i don't see the u.s. attorney's office going that far.

on the other hand, they can still make claims that a pattern and practice type matter exists and they could allow that to happen. but beyond that, they cannot force a criminal trial. that's up to the district attorney's office. they can certainly do a civil trial and a federal criminal trial which is not as likely. >> john burris, thank you so much. appreciate your time today. >> thank you. in buffalo, a report on exactly how tough it is to deal with all that snow. >> reporter: i'm 125 pounds. i'm going to try to jump this. imagine 125 pounds full force going in and this is all you get? >> that report next. trublend has the perfect blend for each of us covergirl p!nk blend of rockstar and mama bear. her trublend... light 4 it blends in doesn't build up for a flawless nude look find your trublend at easy breezy beautiful covergirl

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex on this saturday. new trouble in western new york following the incredible seven feet of snowfall this week. the national weather service has issued a flood watch tomorrow through wednesday. as all that snow begins to melt and rain moves into the area as

well. right now, neighbors are doing everything they can there to dig themselves out. the weather channel's raegan medgie has more. >> reporter: i can tell you, probably burning a lot of calories out here. kate and michael are out here. kate is using a garden hoe to get through the snow. and look what happened here. michael's shovel broke. you see that? because of the weight of the snow. and this is basically what they're dealing with, all of this snow. you see how high it is? i'm 5'3", and i'm about 125 pounds. and if you see this, this is packed. so this is even tougher to get through. i'm joined now by mick murphy. you see what he's doing to remove his snow. this is high stuff. let me get him really quickly. come on over here, mike. he's going to tell us basically what's going on here with him. he's actively removing the snow all day. so what is your main concern with this snow because rain is on the way? >> well, i feel like the four

horsemen of the apocalypse have showed up. we have flooding problems and i have 22 people coming for thanksgiving dinner. >> reporter: this is how much snow's been falling. and this is going to be days. they have people coming for thanksgiving. 46 million americans heading on the roads. good luck, west seneca. we're hoping this snow will melt slowly for you. back to you. >> raegan medgie with the latest. thank you so much for that. if one thing came out of president obama's immigration plan this week, his decision could lead to another political war in d.c. as the republican party prepares to take full control of congress. >> for years we haven't done much about it. well, today we're doing something about it. >> with this action, the president has chosen to deliberately sabotage any chance of enacting bipartisan reforms that he claims to seek. >> they can still pass a bill. i don't have a vote in congress. pass a bill.

you don't need me to call a vote to pass a bill. pass a bill. >> if president obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, congress will act. >> joining me now, national journal correspondent lauren fox and "washington post" white house reporter david knanakamor. what will republicans do next, david? >> you've heard a lot of talk about defunding some of the immigration agencies that would carry this out. the spending bill expires in early december potentially leading to a stand-off or shutdown. you hear mitch mcconnell and others saying that's not going to happen. and privately the white house says they don't believe that will happen. they're taking mitch mcconnell at his word.

it would be damaging for republicans and the republican leadership knows that. but the republican rank-and-file say, we want an election and we want it big. for the president to impose his will is not what the electorate wants. in the next year, whether they would go forward with their own more conservative immigration bill. >> lauren, both the speaker as well as senator mcconnell have said that congress is going to act, they could potentially talk of government shutdown. here's what you wrote early this week about how republicans are seeing an upside to a shutdown -- you say, quote, the good news for house speaker john boehner and snen mitch mcconnell is even if republicans head down the shutdown warpath, it might not be the calamity for the party that washington once made it out to be. why? >> we have to look at the last government shutdown. we saw an election where republicans did quite well. they gained seats in the house

of representatives. and they won back control of the senate. and even if we look back to the 1994, 1995 shutdown under bill clinton, republicans came back and did well in the 1996 election after that. so i think that republicans want to avoid a shutdown. it's certainly not something that they want to do. they have a lot of truth that they need to govern. but it's possible that this is something that could occur. >> i was alluding to this a little bit earlier in this broadcast, david, that is about how the republicans might poke back at the president. dana milbank wrote a column about how republicans can do that. he says, quote, the idea of congress legislating seems quaint these days but flake's counterintuitive view is that obama's unilateral action will increase pressure on the president to accept conservative immigration bills and therefore increase the odds that something

resembling comprehensive immigration reform will be enacted. is he being naive that something might happen? he's saying they'll poke back but in the end come together. >> senator flake was one of the gang of eight, they did a big bipartisan bill that got through the senate in the spring of 2013. i think the question is, would republicans -- i think republicans want to go forward with some sort of immigration reform that's heavy on border enforcement. but democrats and president obama say you have to do it all. and for you to go forward first with border enhancement and more guards on the border, bigger fence, we're not just going to sign off on that before we get something that settles the question of what to do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants that president obama is trying to do something about with this action. so i think that's the big sticking point. until republicans come up with some sort of way to deal with this population that's not just to deport them but somehow give them some legal path, if not citizenship, something that stops short, that's the big question and the tough part for

republicans. >> let's think of what this means for democrats on a more broad foundation here. lauren, to you on this, will all the democratic party now get on board with what the president is pushing forward? you saw that energy, that heat, that emotion that he brought there in las vegas saying, we're moving forward, this is what i want and almost daring, if you will, the republicans. will all democrats now have to stand with him or will they keep an arm's length? >> i think it depends on whether we're talking about democrats who are in the senate and represent conservative states. i think we've seen some confusion and a little bit of upset voices on capitol hill about the president moving forward this close after an election when democrats did so poorly. but on the flip side of that, you have someone like hillary clinton who came out with a statement following the president's immigration announcement that she supported him. i think in the 2016 presidential election, this is going to be a major issue. and i think that democrats who

are going to be running for president will probably be behind president obama. but democrats who are going to be running for the senate, depending on what their state looks like might fall into a different category. >> david, you're an air force one a lot and watching this president. i want you to comment on what you think -- if this is or not a turn in the way that he may be approaching his final two years? >> i think it is. they laid the groundwork by talking about the president taking action on his own. but you saw when he went to asia that he announced a big climate deal with china, he's acting on his own. that wasn't popular with republicans followed up by the action that he's making on immigration. the white house doesn't believe the message of the election was that democrats' agenda took a hit. it was just that everybody was frustrated with washington not getting things done. that's a gamble they're taking. but what you're seeing now is they're committed to this over the next seven, eight months until sort of the 2016 debates take over.

>> we'll see how long this issue lasts. david, lauren, thank you both so much. >> thank you. coming up, how alex's cameo in the political drama led to this week's office politics. just ahead. uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today. ["mony mony" by billy idole she cokicks in on car stereo]y". ♪don't stop now come on mony♪ ♪come on yeah ♪i say yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪yeah ♪'cause you make me feel like a pony♪ ♪so good

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for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor about viagra. norm ornstein, you'll get a look at alex and norm's star turn in "alpha house." but first, norm talks potential gop candidates and why hillary clinton is the only viable democrat in 2016. >> i do think she's in a better position for a variety of reasons than she was in 2008. 2008 there was this strong desire for a change and a candidate of change. and he was a candidate of experience. she tried to turn it around, experience for change. that was pretty lame. but you also had a remarkable

dynamic figure in barack obama emerging who ran a very disciplined and effective campaign. and hers was not. she's learned lessons from that. there is no barack obama out there who will run or who is really anywhere in existence who could have that same sort of reaction among voters. so uniting behind a candidate early who can strun a faux rose garden campaign where you can watch the other side pull itself apart while you adjust and build your coalition more broadly, that becomes even more important. and that's something that only she can do. >> let's go with some gop names for 2016. i want your reaction. jeb bush. >> i'm skeptical he'll run. if he does, he'll see a lot of established figures in the

republican party running behind him. but the debate and primary process will make it really, really difficult for him to win. >> how about rand paul? >> he's the most interesting figure in contemporary american politics. he's operating more on instinct now and just sort of vamping his way through. but he's got a kind of quirky appeal and strong political skills that i don't discount him as a potential nominee. >> marco rubio? >> marco rubio clearly is a talent. but i'm a skeptic about rubio as well. the reason is, the same reason that i would mention for bobby jindal. i think you have somebody whose desire to win a nomination and ambition is strong enough that he's kind of lost his roots. and principle don't matter much anymore. >> chris christie? >> i would love to see a

presidential campaign where the slogan of one of the major party candidates is "america, sit down and shut up." >> i knew there was something funny coming there. >> how about ted cruz? >> ted cruz is somebody to watch. i'm thinking ahead. cruz is a guy who is despised by most of his republican colleagues in the senate. they see him as somebody who's not just the antithesis of a team player but somebody who will cynically act and undermine them if it serves his own purposes. doesn't mean a damn thing when it comes to running for a presidential nomination where you're appealing to a completely different group of people. >> i want to ask you about a few things, notably what happened outside the office, your future acting career. you and i shared several fabulous seconds together on the season finale of "alpha house." why is the rnc doing this? >> it's the lewis thing.

>> i'm just thinking back to viola davis who was this marvelous actress -- >> where are you going? >> she was an actress unknown to the american people as a whole until she made one appearance and one scene that just riveted america. and now she is a superstar. that one scene that we did may rivet america enough that at least a series is in the offing. >> i can't believe i let you go on that long with that explanation. >> yeah. only takes one scene. >> it only does take one. we'll see if that series comes about. great stuff there. by the way, tomorrow this time, norm tells alex about the results from the first poll he ever conducted in 1992 for comedy central and his role as sidekick for al franken there. president obama encouraged people this week to come out of the shadows and get right with

the law. ahead, i'll speak to a woman who is doing just that. many americans who have prescriptions fail to stay on them. that's why we created programs which encourage people to take their medications regularly. so join us as we raise a glass to everyone who remembered today. bottoms up, america. see you tomorrow. same time. another innovation from cvs health.

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the president today is jumping out in front of republicans threatening to block his executive action on immigration. this morning, president obama saying the actions he's taken are legal and issued this challenge to critics on the hill. >> there are members of congress who question my authority to make our immigration system work better. i have one answer for that. pass a bill. the day i sign it into law, the actions i've taken to help solve this problem will no longer be necessary. >> the president says his order will bring hardworking men and women out of the shadows who have been in the states for years, including my next guest who has kept quiet about her status for 22 years. now she's publicly fighting for change. thanks for joining us there from seattle, washington. what was your reaction? i saw some of the pictures in the video of those watching the president's address at 8:00 p.m.

what was the emotion that went through your mind? >> well, i think it was mixed emotion, first of all. i think when we are told to be out of the shadows, we already have. many of us began a campaign last year. we came out publicly. the dreamers are ahead of us did that as well. we realized this is a win. it's a big win. we were able to push the president to this point. and we were right, even though that criticized us saying, no, he cannot do it, you're wrong. even those that ask him to continue delaying this action, now we prove that we were right and that the undocumented community is taking the leadership and it is a mixed feeling because we know many of those that fought for this win, like the people in detention centers that went on hunger strikes are not going to be benefiting from this. myself, i will benefit from this.

so it is with mixed emotions that we receive the news. >> mixed emotions, when you sat there and listened to the president and his address about undocumented immigrants, tell me more about those who have been out there with you, of your 22 years that you've been here in the united states, you decided that you were going to step forward, that you would protest in front of a deportation -- excuse me, in front of a detention center. who are the other undocumenteds that you have been hand in hand with? many people don't know that over 1.2 million undocumented immigrants some from asia. that's about 1 out of 10. >> that's right. it's a mixed group. there's people from everywhere. actual 44 men from cambodia were about to deported to a place where they speak the language. jose morino was a young gay man

that came seven years ago, pretty much fighting against those that back in mexico would hate him just for the fact that he's gay. and one woman's family has been impacted because she has three children and she's on her own right now because her husband has been in the detention center for over a year now due to the secure community program which we were able to now eliminate, thanks to our work on the ground and president obama accepted that it's a program that it should not exist. >> we were showing some pictures here of you protesting that i was describing a little bit earlier. you have not always been out there protesting in your 22 years here. tell us about what your life has been like over the last two decades and what was one of the major turning points in who you say you are and what you will

do? >> i've been in the country for 22 years, half of my life. i came with a visa and i overstayed the visa. i was always worried, always looking over my shoulder, afraid of being taken and arrested and having handcuffs placed on me and being put away and then deported from this country. in 17 of those years, i've worried about not being next to my daughter. it's been tough, it's been difficult. people have no idea what it is to live every day of your life afraid that at some point you will be away from your child. so when the announcement came on thursday, my daughter and i -- the first thing we thought was, what about the others? what about everybody else because it felt a little bit unfair that we are going to benefit, she's not going to be worried anymore, that every day i go out to work or travel, she has to know where i am. we actually create our routine

where we text each other at least eight times a day because we need to know where each of us are. so it's still something that's just sinking in right now to think half of my life i've been in this country. i belong here. my daughter is a u.s. citizen. and we can finally feel safe. we can finally feel that we can plan for the future. but, again, we want all families to feel that way. we want everybody to feel safe because that's why people come to this place, to this country, to feel safe. so we want everybody to share that joy with us that we don't have to be so worried every day now. that we can actually be at least for three years under this program to be together and not worry about being separated. >> what's your daughter's name? >> her name is josephina. >> what did she say to you?

>> she hugged me and said, i'm going to be with you and we're going to continue fighting for everybody but thank you. >> maru, thank you so much and for sharing your story. i really appreciate you stopping by on this saturday. >> thank you. coming up, say it ain't so. new reports that the world is running out of chocolate. that's what they're saying. the efforts being made now to save the cocoa bean.

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ferguson braces. the city awaits the grand jury decision in the michael brown case. but what's being done to keep the calm? the meltdown, snowbound buffalo prepares for rising mercury and coming floodwaters. why u.s. troops may be seeing combat in afghanistan longer than the president has announced. and chocolate shortage. what could change the taste of chocolate forever?

good day to you. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." alex is away. i'm richard lui. here's what's happening. ferguson, missouri, this afternoon is waiting. a decision is expected any time from the grand jury hearing evidence in the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown by police officer darren wilson. nbc's craig melvin has been covering that story for us there in ferguson. craig, as we were mentioning in the last hour, the house of michael brown is not too far where you've been reporting for for a long time. and you were down there, you got to walk down the street and speak with michael brown's father. and you got to talk about thanksgiving with him. >> reporter: yeah. michael brown sr. was here this morning. he was handing out thanksgiving turkeys to folks who live in the canfield green apartments. that's just about a quarter mile down the road behind me. this, of course, the community where michael brown -- this is

where he was shot. this is the neighborhood in which that happened. his father was handing out these turkeys because he said he wanted to thank the folks who that community who looked after his son. this is just a snippet of what he told me. what's going on this afternoon? what are you doing? >> giving back to the community, brother. showing our love back to canfield where the incident on august 9th, 2014, where the people looked out for my son. >> reporter: again, michael brown sr. passed out more than 70 turkeys. he went to the grocery store and just wanted to give back. we should note here, i asked him, richard, about the grand jury decision. i asked him what he thought as this entire community, as the country waits for a decision from that 12-member panel. he said he could not talk about that, did not want to talk about

it. but we can tell you also as we've been reporting that are some folks who are supposed to be given notice who may be given notice once the grand jury has reached a decision. school district officials, law enforcement officials, the family of michael brown. so far, none of those folks have indicated that they've gotten word of a decision. so, again, we wait. in addition to michael brown sr. passing out those turkeys, we also spent some time talking to michael brown's stepmom as well. >> we'll miss him. his wittiness, his pranks, him with his big plate of food sitting there like a king, you know? we'll miss all of that. >> reporter: this, of course, his family's first thanksgiving without the 18-year-old who was set to start community college just two or three days after he died, richard. >> craig, you've spoken with michael brown's father throughout the last several

months, many times. what was his mood like today and how's it different than before? and along with that, the police force out there or law enforcement, and what is their presence at the moment -- if you've had a chance to speak with him the last day or so, what you're taking from their sense of the situation? >> reporter: everyone you talk to, whether it's law enforcement, whether it's business owners, protesters, whether it's folks who just have lived in the area, everyone's anxious. keep in mind, here is a community that for the past nearly 110 days now, everyone's been on pins and needles. after the shooting, there was of course the unrest, sometimes violent, clashes with the police that we've all seen that we're a part of. and after that, there's a long stretch of relative calm. over the past few nights, we've seen some protests outside the ferguson police department, a number of arrests as well. but nothing like what we saw in the wake of michael brown's death.

i will tell you that one of the things that michael brown sr. did want to talk about was this initiative that he and his organization launched in the weeks after his son's death. this initiative to lobby state assemblies, state legislatures to force police departments to wear body cameras. that, of course, has become his cause. so he spent some time talking about that as well. but, again -- i wouldn't describe it as tense. i've heard a lot of people say it's tense here in ferguson. it's really not tense. people are anxious. you've got 12 folks who have been hearing evidence, listening to evidence, poring over evidence and everyone at this point waiting to find out what these 12 people have decided. >> anxious and probably no doubt pensive as well. so much to be thinking about there in ferguson, missouri. thank you, craig. the anticipation of the grand

jury's announcement can surely be seen on the front page of today's "st. louis post-dispatch" reading, region braces for decision day. headlines the paper's coverage with two-thirds of its front page devoted to its cover. one organization has at least 50 volunteers on the streets trying to keep the peace. and nationwide, the advancement project says more than 70 protests will be held across the protest after the announcement, including in washington. churches in the ferguson area are preparing for whatever happens in the wake of the grand jury decision. they are arranging sanctuary for anyone who wants to be safely away from any demonstrations. >> they are a place where protesters can come. they are not a hiding place for criminal activity. they are not a hiding place for anything that would be unlawful or harmful to anyone. >> the reverend saying all will be welcome and the centers will be staffed with nurses,

therapists and legal observers. joining me now is ferguson democratic committeewoman patricia bynes. thank you for being with us today. i appreciate your time. when we look at what's happening there in ferguson, committeewoman, if you can tell us please about the churches, they're opening up as safe places, businesses, some are boarding up because -- like it's a hurricane because they're worried about the state of emergency that's been declared there just in case based on what you're hearing. that's what they're doing. what do you expect in terms of when the decision is read what will happen? >> i know it's going to be for anticipated. everyone almost all over the world is waiting to see what happens with this decision. there are different organizations planning certain actions. and there have been lots of training for nonviolent protesting. that's been the main message because what we don't want to happen is that violence to take over the progress that's trying

to be made with the issues we're dealing with. so i'm very grateful for the churches that are working on making sure that their sanctuaries are safe spaces and people who have volunteered to either be legal observers or medics or just prepare for whatever, we have to look forward to this as a community. >> committeewoman, as part of that understanding and that reach for calmness that you're talking about, were those rules of engagement -- there was a list of 19 that were proposed and then what had happened is there was a response from law enforcement in terms of which ones they agreed with, those 19 coming from those of the community, leaders from the community. do you think those rules of engagement, right here, will they work and do you agree with most of which are on this? >> i like the idea that everyone in the community trying to get an idea of the rules of engagement. i think that communication between the community and law

enforcement is necessary and is very needed. but let's just be realistic. we're under the state of emergency right now. and they really are able to legally do whatever they want to do. but hopefully by having this communication between the community and law enforcement, we can help hold them accountable if they choose to do whatever they want to do. >> there's something that i know you are watching so closely here, committeewoman. it's the move for cameras on law enforcement there in ferguson in the st. louis area. but in order to get that energy moving forward is getting people to the polls. and this last midterm, the numbers were down by some 12 percentage points compared to previous midterm elections. and i know that you and others are trying to get those from the community just to vote. >> yeah. i can't hear. >> so the question to you is -- can you hear me now? >> yes, i can.

>> i know that you are trying to get those there in ferguson just to vote and enact change. but we had, again, a lower voter turnout. what do you take away from that when you look at all this energy that is watching this particular case? >> well, in our last election here in november, we had a large amount of voter turnout. i was very, very excited about that. and it takes people to understand through the efforts of voter education, to understand what they're coming to the polls for. so when we want to talk about body cameras, i'm not just for body cameras. i'm for policies around the cameras, because just having the cameras are not enough. and the outreach with the community to talk to them on why this is important and how this affects them. that's been the missing link. when you want people to come out and vote, you have to tell them exactly what's in it for them. and that is being made very clear with a lot of the things that are going on now regarding the mike brown case. >> committeewoman patricia bynes from ferguson, thank you so

much. >> thank you. in just a few minutes, we'll speak with a brown family attorney, benjamin crump. and be sure to stay with msnbc for developments from ferguson as we await the grand jury's decision. president obama sticks to his guns on his immigration plan while republicans take aim to stop it. the latest in the back and forth battle there next. t you worry about what you use in the laundry. so i use new tide pods free & gentle, to get a deep clean that's gentle on skin. new tide pods free & gentle. oats go! wow! go power oats! go! go power! yayyyy! which means it's time for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf.

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the historic and deadly snowstorm that pounded buffalo is creating new problems for people in western new york as residents dig out from the snow. they now have to worry about flooding as temperatures climb. chris pollone is there in western new york with the latest for us. there's still a lot of that stuff around you. but the difference with all that white snow is there could be rain coming. >> reporter: yeah, and there is

rain. in the last hour or so, we've experienced a little bit of light rain. ordinarily that would be a welcome sight because they've certainly seen enough snow here to last a lifetime in the past week. but it's not a welcome sight because there is so much snow on the ground throughout western new york and the temperature is constantly going up. today we expect to get into the 40s. tomorrow, the 50s. and monday, the 60s. coupled with that rain, it's going to make this snow heavy and wet threatening roofs in this area and it's also going to cause some flooding. there's a flood watch that will go into effect p tomorrow and last until wednesday. and people here, city and county officials are scrambling to prepare for whatever flooding might take place. >> what are they doing there, not only the city officials but residents to prepare for this water and all the weight that will result from it? >> reporter: well, they're asking people to use today wisely. that means maybe trying to come out to the street and trying to find the storm drain, though good luck. if i look for a storm drain

here, it would probably take me 25 years. they're asking people to make sure if they have some pumps, get those prepared, make sure they're routed out to the proper areas. as for the local officials, the state is pitching in a great deal here with any flood efforts. they've already sent more than 400 generators and pumps to the area. 50 boats and crews tlahat coulde used for rescue if that take place. 115 sandbags. so they're serious about this effort. and the state and governor cuomo have sent a lot of resources to this area. right now, we have a crew talking with some folks from the fire department of the city of new york who have actually come up here. they're incident command people who know how to handle these types of large-scale issues. and they're also sending 40 more people today who are trained in water rescues in case that becomes a necessity. >> from snow emergency now to flood emergency as they get those boats there. you have to change your gear from snow gear to rain gear.

chris pollone there for us -- >> reporter: i have the rain suit. >> appreciate it, chris. the president is holding his ground on immigration today defending himself against gop critics who say the executive action he took was an unconstitutional power grab. in his weekly address, president obama said he has the authority to give millions of undocumented workers a chance at legal status and he said his action will help stop the wave of immigrants at the border. >> we're providing more resources at the border to help law enforcement personnel stop illegal crossings and send home those who do crossover. we'll focus enforcement resources on people who are threats to our securities, felons, not families. criminals, not children. >> yoijoining me now is alan go. you've been watching the mechanics, the details behind what the president has put forward this past week when he was out there at 8:00 p.m. on thursday. i was just looking through the

u.s./cis actions. they say applications they'll be able to start processing -- when and where will this action be accessible by these 5 million undocumented immigrants that are being affected by this executive order? >> well, the general ballpark right now is spring. they know they need a few months to ramp up to be ready to do this. but they had a warm-up a few years ago. in 2012, the president created the deferred action for childhood arrivals program. that allowed young undocumented immigrants, those brought to the country as children, to get this legal status. they processed nearly over 800,000 applications, almost 600,000 of those were accepted. i that had a test run on this. obviously this will be a much bigger scale. adults have to prove they've been here for a lot longer. they have less documentation to do so. but they had that dry run. it's going to be a few months before they can start. >> 5 million is the estimated number here. and you were alluding there to

daca. when we look at that, only about 60% of those eligible did come forward. 60% of that 5 million, about 3 million applicants come forward, that's still a big number, my friend. how will the capacity be handled by -- this is just one agency, uscis. what's their plan in terms of head count to help process? >> they're just at the very beginning process of figuring that out. they said during the last round they were basically able to readjust people within the agency. the way it works, it's not just one huge building in washington that does this. they have service centers spread throughout the country. some of them work better than others. some of them are used to quick waves that historically have dealt with big waves in the past. so it depends how that works. i think they saw the sort of holes in the system last time. they're trying to readjust to

get all the service centers working on the same page. >> when we are thinking of the mechanism to pay for this, it's being said that the fees that result from applying will pay for the head count that they'll need in places like uscis. >> right. we're hearing a lot of talk from republicans in congress saying they want to defund the president's plan. the fee you pay when you submit an application for a green card or citizenship, that pays for the agency itself. the price to apply for daca is about $465. so that paid for all the work they did last time around. it's not exact what the new fee is going to be for this program. but they're expecting they're going to do it in a way so it will fund the whole program. >> alan, very quickly, if you can, i want to talk about your last article. you say, obama's immigration plan will weigh on gop 2016 race. will this be remembered two

years from now? normally, life span of any issue is pretty short there in d.c. >> well, here's the thing. the way they crafted this program, the protections that these people will get will be for three years. so that means their period of protected status is going to run well into the next president's term. so that means every candidate on the campaign trail is going to have to answer the question, will you let those stand, will you revoke those? so that absolutely makes it a very critical issue throughout the primaries in 2016. >> alan, thank you so much. >> thank you. the taste of chocolate may never be the same. it's all because of a shortage of chocolate. we'll explain next. (prof. burke) the more you learn about your insurance,

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writing an article about chocolate would be fun. but unfortunately there's something not so sweet about this and that's the shortage. >> yeah. it's a coming shortage. right now, prices are a little bit higher than they used to be. but people are worried about where things will be in 2020. there's going to be a shortage of about a million metric tons of chocolate. >> and it's caused by a fungal attack? >> by everything. fungal disease, climate change, another problem is that farmers are switching to alternative crops, things like corn, things like rubber. crops they can make a better return on in the short term. but probably the biggest problem is that we're all eating more chocolate. it's not you and me. it's the emerging economies, countries like china, brazil, india. as they amass more wealth, they are getting a taste for the treat that we all love, chocolate. >> maybe you and i already eat

too much is what you're saying. >> i don't think that's possible. >> what will this mean to prices, though? >> it's going to make prices go up. chocolate is going to get more expensive. we've always been used to chocolate being quite affordable. i think that's going to change. >> doubling in price? what do you expect here? >> it's hard to know exactly. i think candy bars is going to get stretched. you'll see things like more caramel, more nuts. those single origin bars of chocolate will become much more expensive as that chocolate becomes more rare but also as that chocolate goes down in quality, it will be harder to get the good stuff. >> this is really interesting. you were discussing this. the idea of chocolate derivatives and those chocolate derivatives perhaps tasting a little bit different than what we're used to when we're eating chocolate today. >> yeah. what's going to happen is that as this pressure -- they say the greatest cure for high prices is high prices. we're going to start developing

and it's already started, new strains of cocoa that produce a better, more disease-resistant crop. what we'll do in the long run is kill the flavor. we've done it with strawberries, tomatoes, chicken. and it looks like we're going to do it with chocolate. that's the big fear in that trying to solve this problem, we're going to make it even worse. >> what will it taste like? vanilla? >> well, they'll probably dump a lot of vanilla in there. some of these high-producing varieties, people say they taste dirty, they taste too acidic. it's going to be harder to get that bar of chocolate, that incredible chocolate cake at a fine restaurant that has those notes that grab you. >> and where this is happening is really not here, because the majority of chocolate is produced in the ivory coast. it's produced in ghana. >> that's right. africa produces about 70% of the supply. there's some really incredible work being done in costa rica, a small producer of chocolate. but they've figured out how to

develop varieties that are delicious but abundant. what we need to see happen is for those kinds of varieties to be grown in other parts of the world. that's the big question, will that happen. >> mark, life is a box of chocolates today. i appreciate it. >> thank you. what's taking the grand jury so long in ferguson, missouri? the overtime for u.s. combat troops in afghanistan, why has president obama changed his mind to let them fight in twift?

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[singing] ♪mony mony ring ring! ...progresso! you soup people have my kids loving vegetables. well vegetables... shh! taste better in our savory broth. vegetables!? no...soup! oh! soup! loaded with vegetables. packed with taste. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex today. in ferguson missouri, a decision is expected anytime from the grand jury hearing evidence in the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown by police officer darren wilson. national reporter at "usa today" has been in ferguson throughout the last several months. let's get into this. what are you hearing about timing on the grand jury?

we heard we're going to get a little bit of a warning. is this before or after thanksgiving? >> reporter: it's hard to say when the grand jury is going to come back. a lot of people are speculating. the prosecutor's office which is the only place i can go to report this because they're the ones who are going to tell us, all they said yesterday is that the grand jury is in session. they said they're getting ready to put this press conference on. but it's really still hard to say when the grand jury's going to come back. but the fact that they're making those preparations makes me feel like it's going to be sometime soon. and the mayor of st. louis said he expected a grand jury decision very soon. he said that yesterday at a press conference. but we're not sure what that actually means. >> and they're still meeting? >> reporter: from my understanding, they were in session yesterday. i'm not sure if they're meeting today because it's a saturday. but from my understanding, they were meeting yesterday. >> what does that tell you if they are still meeting if they met yesterday, from what you've heard? >> reporter: it could means a lot of things. the legal experts i've talked to say this isn't going to be a

hard deliberation in the fact that you have an up/down vote. you either believe there should be charges or you don't. the legal experts i've talked to say they don't think deliberations are going to go long. if they're meeting on friday, they could have just taken a vote and be done and we could hear something as early as sunday. but that's just all speculation. everybody that's saying at least from my understanding, everyone that's saying when the grand jury will come back definitively is speculating. the idea is that the prosecutor's office is not saying publicly when they're going to meet. >> thank you for working your sources there to get a sense of the timing. benjamin crump will join us in several minutes to tell us what he knows about timing as well. thank you so much. be sure to stay with msnbc for developments from ferguson as we await the grand jury's decision. nbc news confirming what "the new york times" first reported, that president obama has extended the role of u.s. troops in afghanistan. that means military men and women could be involved in combat missions beyond the end of the year.

the president's order gives troops license to carry out broader missions and it also authorizes u.s. jets, bombers and drones to support them. joining me right now is democratic congressman david sisilini. what do you make of this development that the president has, if you will, expanded what their potential mission could be there in afghanistan? >> good afternoon, richard. it's a serious development. i've been a very loud voice for ending the war in afghanistan. i think the american people are very weary of our engagement there. and the president has worked very hard, i think, to bring our involvement there to an end. there's no question that this is a change of policy on the part of the administration. i think it requires a very substantive discussion. obviously there are a lot of moving parts in that region of the world. but we really have to continue to insist the afghan people take on the responsibility of

defending their own country and building their own government. it cannot be a permanent responsibility of the united states. >> there was much debated there about the 9,800 troops that remain in the country in terms of what their call was as to whether they would engage militarily, which is now being reported and what we have just confirmed for those troops there. what do you think -- >> yeah -- >> go ahead. >> initially, of course, it was to provide training and counterterrorism assistance. now it appears it's broadened some, particularly with the air combat. >> the drone support, the jet support. >> correct. >> what tells you that this might be necessary? from what you know? >> well, i think two things have contributed to this. i don't want to obviously speak for the president or imagine what caused him to come to this conclusion. but i think two obvious things are, there's a new president in afghanistan, he's much more

receptive and has sought out american assistance. and the efforts to combat isis have perhaps combined to cause the administration to re-examine the policy. but i think we have to be very, very wary of deepening our engagement and restarting our military involvement in a war in afghanistan. i've been a strong proponent for ending it. i think we have to have a very serious discussion about this and really -- the case has to be made before we can support this kind of endeavor because the american people have given a tremendous amount of brave men and women in uniform in afghanistan, our treasure. it's time for the afghan people to do their part. >> 13 years. scheduled to end december 31st. we'll see what happens with that. i want to move to another topic that you are very much in touch with. that's the president's executive action on immigration. the chair of the judiciary committee which you do sit on, congressman bob goodlet saying

congress will use the best tools available to stop president obama from implementing his unconstitutional plan. >> i hope he means the best tool to us is to pass comprehensive immigration reform. the senate passed a bill in a bipartisan way. republicans and democrats came together with a commonsense solution, not a perfect bill. if that bill were brought to the house floor, it would pass and the necessity for the president's executive order would evaporate. i hope congress will act. but the reality is the president, i think, made very clear that -- we all know we have a broken immigration system. this is important that we fix it not only to families but to the business community, to our efforts to grow the economy, create jobs. this is critical to who we are as a country. it speaks to our values. what i hope what the president's executive order does is provide a temporary solution for 5 million people. but the real answer is for congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. >> let's talk about that. if senator jeff flake in his proposal, which is really four step, three step that is may not be so savory for democrats, the

final one, the fourth step, he's suggesting to then put into law what the president has now done with executive action, would you go along with that? >> well, i think we have a comprehensive bill. it's a bipartisan bill. it's passed the senate. it fixes -- we should avoid doing little pieces of the fix. let's do it in a comprehensive way. get it done. it's important so we keep families together, so we can grow our economy, so that we can continue to be a beacon to the world. we need to secure our borders, which the president does in this executive order. but the immigration bill that's a bipartisan bill does all the things we need to do. we ought to fix it once and for all and get it done. and, again, we don't have to imagine the product. it's already done. i passed the senate in a bipartisan way. republicans and democrats. it will pass the house. there's one person who stands in the way. speaker boehner. if he brings the bill to the floor, we'll fix our broken immigration system and the president's executive order will be unnecessary. so we should do that. we should get the work done.

it will secure our borders. it will make sure families stay united. it will ensure that entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the best talent in the world. we know the answer to this. we just need to get it done. >> congressman, thank you so much for your time. have a good weekend. >> thanks. to an attorney from michael brown's family. he's joining us. and another woman points the finger at bill cosby. p is growi. p is growi. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics.

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can happen in hours, it can go days. you just never know. you have to give the jury the opportunity to do their job. >> and so in this case, you're here with us in new york. which we definitely appreciate. are you saying, then, in so many ways that may not happen today? >> well, nobody can say -- i don't think an announcement will come today. but who knows if they finished their deliberation today, it's anybody's guess. so we choose not to speculate and say, let the jury do their job. >> will you be hearing if a decision has been made -- will you be hearing in advance of when that announcement will come out? >> certainly, the prosecutor's office has said they will inform the family before they make a public announcement. >> and so as we look forward -- we were just getting some reports on the ground that the sense is that they're anxious, perhaps pensive. how is this different from two months ago? >> well, i think -- hopefully

we've learned from two months ago when we saw those horrific images, hopefully everybody's learned -- when governor nixon came out and seemed like he was only talking to the supporters of michael brown and not talking to the law enforcement that did those horrible things. we saw the images of what they did and how they treated reporters. hopefully everybody's learned and we're going to be better. >> you have been talking with michael brown's father throughout this entire series of months. he was just out early today passing out turkeys. >> right. >> in advance of thursday. he went out and spent his money and bought 70 turkeys and was passing them out in front of the moment of michael brown. what is he going through at this moment in your discussions with him? >> he's trying his best to be positive, to continue to thank the community that had supported them. they're from ferguson. so they understand that this has a great impact, not just on their lives but all the ferguson community. and they're trying to have people do positive things.

what you saw was an example of him trying to remind people that we are a good community. >> how are residents of ferguson talking about this grand jury now? how are they talking about it today? >> well, as we've said from the beginning, we were very distrustful of the local authorities, the local prosecutors, and certainly of this process. we felt they never needed to be a grand jury. there was enough evidence to have probable cause to charge the officer. >> what will you do here, mr. crump, if it comes down that there is no indictment? what will the brown family do? >> well, obviously, they're going to explore all the legal avenues available to them. and they're going to be heartbroken. make no mistake about it. they sincerely want the killer of their child held accountable. but they're going to try to look for positive solutions to change things so this doesn't happen to anybody else's child like the proposal for the michael brown law, video, body cameras for all police officers so things will be transparent, richard. >> will you file a civil lawsuit?

>> more than likely, they're going to explore every legal avenue possible to them to get full justice for their child. >> what do you think they will want if they do come forward with this lawsuit? >> justice. what any other parent in america will want. people keep saying things as if -- they are simple, regular american people who want for their family, whatever you want for your family, anybody who else has children. it's a burden for parents of color to have to worry about if the people are supposed to protect and serve them are going to kill their children. >> our reporter there, you know him well, craig melvin, was telling us about the two shrines that were there. when i was there a couple of months ago, it was just one shrine and there was one on the side. he said they have since grown. the messages, some of them are the same, some of them are different. and the emotions, i can't imagine that still exist for the family and those of that

everyday neighborhood. >> yeah. and that's what it is. remember, three months ago, richard, these people watched a young man laying dead on the street for over four over four h blood running from his head. it's very emotional because they keep thinking they're going to try to sweep his death under the rug. people care. they're a good community. the message to everybody who is coming into ferguson is be responsible. don't be violent. don't be irresponsible. this is not the way to honor michael brown's legacy. >> again, the decision, we don't know when, but your expectation is maybe earlier in the week then? what do you think? >> any time now, richard. the jury is deliberating. they're going to do their job. when they finish their job, we all will know. >> benjamin crump, an attorney for the brown family in new york city. thank you for giving us the latest. >> thank you. the politics of immigration. h how much will it come into play? ♪ let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together ♪

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the question has been asked,

how much are both sides playing politics, if at all, with the president's immigration decision? joining us is a republican strategist and msnbc contributor and executive editor, jimy williams. good day to both of you. jimmy, is this the first tranche of perhaps more executive action when it comes to immigration? it's covered 5 million. as we heard in the last couple of days here, there are some that are pro-immigration reform that say, you didn't do enough. >> he can't win. >> that's what he might be saying. >> i think that's what the white house is probably saying. there's always going to be pressure. did the president go far enough? not in democrat's eyes and not in the latino's eyes. republicans, he is breaking the law, sleddi inshredding the con, blah, blah, blah, boring. the republicans have to figure

something out quickly. the president did not grant amnesty to a single person anywhere in the united states. in 1986, there were 7.5 million eligible latino voters. in 2014, 25.2. by 2030, the number be double. either they want the votes or don't. if they do, they need a bill. >> backing on 2016. mercedes, do you think when we look at the latino american vote that jimmy is eluding to, and the swing vote we love to talk about when we get close to the election, do you think this has traction that will lead through to 2016? >> absolutely. i think because at the end, we haven't resol evidenved the pro with immigration reform. what the president did did nothing to modernize the immigration system. what we're dealing with right now is a complete viva overstays. when individuals come into the country, there is no tracking system. 45% of the people that overstay their visas and stay in the

united states, there's no way to find them. you have a e-verification system that needs to be put in place. all these different factions in the immigration reform bill, we know if the house were to take it up, whether it's in the piecemeal approach or not, we need to resolve and modernize the system, as opposed to, as the president did, move unilaterally, which is unpopular. the american voters, 48% of americans don't agree with what the president did. he's setting a dangerous precedent. again, i think for the republicans, it's going to be an interesting and continued debate until 2016. >> jimmy, who will lead off? at the end of the day for the gop in 30 seconds here, what will be the mccains of the republican party that want to vote, will that dominate here? >> the republicans have to figure out. my question, where is the bill?

the senate passed a bill. it's in the house. where is the bill? pass it. let's go. >> all right. guys, sorry we have to go quickly. i was rushed there. that wraps up with weekends with alex witt. i'm richard lui. uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive.. confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor can get the real answers you need. well, knowing gives you confidence. start building your confident retirement today. it's about gettingur cto the finish line. today. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. so he talked to me about xarelto®. >>xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe

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