[Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] And here we go. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for joining me on this Thursday. You're watching CNN. We have to begin with breaking news on this story that has so much of the nation really on edge right now with what this Ferguson grand jury will decide. We still don't know as we know that the panel is deciding if Officer Darren Wilson should be indicted for shooting and killing that unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, a couple of months ago. Now we know that multiple agencies across the country have been put on alert ahead of this weekend. So let's get straight to our CNN justice correspondent, Evan Perez, who is live there in Ferguson, Missouri. And also on the phone with me is Carl Herron. He was a crisis response agent for the FBI, so we'll get his perspective. But, Evan, to you first. Just start with tell me what you know.
[Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Reporter:] Well, Brooke, the concern goes beyond here, beyond the streets here in Ferguson, Missouri, where we know there are going to be protests this weekend in anticipation of a grand jury decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown. We know that there are protests planned around the country in cities around the country and so law enforcement, federal and state law enforcement, is getting ready for that because we know that some of those protests will be handling will be in front of federal buildings, it will be will be targeting the police, protesting police behavior around the country. And so, you know, there's an abundance of caution here that, you know, some of those protests could get out of control and, therefore, you know, officers want to be ready just in case.
[Baldwin:] Uh-huh. Evan stay with me and, Carl, let me just bring you in, just as with your knowledge of law enforcement. I'm wondering if we just stay specific to Ferguson and the surrounding St. Louis County area, do you think that these local jurisdictions are at least getting help ahead of potential protests, perhaps this weekend, help from other officers in other jurisdictions? CARL HERRON [via telephone]: Yes. I think they're trying to get ahead of the situation here there and, you know, based on what has happened in the past there. This is all part of their contingency plan and preparedness for anything bad that could happen.
[Banfield:] Evan, just back to you quickly. The obvious question that many people want the answer to is the, when will the indictment, or not indictment, come down?
[Perez:] Right.
[Banfield:] We don't have that answer. But how much of a heads up, if any, will people have?
[Perez:] Well, Brooke, you know, we know that the grand jury is going to be coming back tomorrow and the deliberation they expect, according to the officials here, they expect will be pretty really quick. This grand jury has been living with this with this case for a couple of months now and so they'll give 48 hours' notice to law enforcement. We're told that officer, Federal Protective Service and other agencies have been told to be ready just in case there needed to react to any of the demonstrations that are planned.
[Baldwin:] Carl, we know they're already ready. We already know that there have been people, five of whom actually were arrested last night, you know, protesting. They were actually, I think I mentioned, all out of town. So I'm wondering, you know, there are, of course, those, and we talked to those people who truly have this message and want to protest peacefully, no matter the decision here from the grand jury. And then as we saw even back in August, there are these people who come from out of town to just loot and cause trouble.
[Herron:] Yes, you will have that element with anything like this where there is protests. Hopefully the what law enforcement is doing ahead of this with the notification and being getting things together, preparing for it, will help reduce any rioting or violence once the verdict is released.
[Banfield:] All right, Carl Herron, thank you for jumping on the phone for me, and, Evan Perez, thank you for the reporting. If you get anything else, obviously, we'll pop you in front of the camera and get you on live here on CNN. Meantime to breaking news as well in the Buffalo, New York area, where dozens of nursing home patients are being evacuated. This is what we're getting right now. They're being evacuated because the roof of this nursing home is starting to collapse simply because of the sheer weight of the snow. We've got CNN's Brian Todd. He is there standing by. Brian, talk to me. Tell me what the situation is.
[Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Brooke, this is an active evacuation going on right now. Our photojournalist, Ken Tooi, as soon as this vehicle moves past us, is going to zoom in on the front door of the Garden Gate Nursing Home there where some 180 elderly people are being evacuated from the facility. They are concerned that the roof is about to collapse. You can see several feet of snow on the roof. What we were told by a fire chief earlier is that some residents noticed some cracking in the walls, some bowing of the ceilings. They brought in some inspectors. They became very concerned. They thought that the building might be compromised and it appears that it is. They're getting people out. Not all of these residents are out of here yet. They brought a few ambulance full of them out, but they still have some people left to bring out. So a real concern here. No injuries yet, Brooke, but they have to try to get these people out.
[Baldwin:] Yes.
[Todd:] We'll take you in there again. You see these emergency responders at the front of the building and here comes another ambulance. It's about to turn in and probably try to get some people out. No, he's passing. Anyway, this is the situation here, Brooke. This is repeated throughout the Buffalo area with roofs collapsing all over the place or are in danger of collapsing. It's a real concern and first responders just can't get to all of them fast enough.
[Baldwin:] Let me just stay on that point. Let me keep you with me, Brian, because, you know, I was talking to the fire commissioner there in Buffalo yesterday and talk about just acts of heroism and true just morale and strength. I mean here you have like record-breaking snow, right, and some of these people have at least the street I see where you are is cleared. But, you know, I know some of these emergency personnel, I've seen pictures of them carrying patients on stretchers through the snow to the hospital. How's everyone holding up?
[Todd:] Oh, yes. These guys are incredible. They are bringing in snowmobiles, stretchers to get to people at their homes. We were at a home earlier today where it took firefighters about 30 minutes just to dig through about seven feet of snow just to get to the front door of an elderly woman who needed to get out. Then they got a stretcher in there and carried her over this embankment to get her to a car. Incredible what they're doing to pull these people out. As I said, they're using snowplow, snowmobiles, stretchers, any means necessary, and they're doing it all over the place. We saw that happen in this town, Cheektowaga, several times just today. Luckily, they've got a passageway in here they can get these vehicles in. We saw some elderly people being brought out in fire vehicles and other things. But it's incredible the heroism taking place here.
[Baldwin:] Let me just stay with you and, if you can, have your PJ zoom back in, if you can, through those firefighters behind you. I'd love to get a closer glimpse again of the nursing home.
[Todd:] Yes.
[Baldwin:] And as we there we go. As we do so here we go. I know it's kind of tough to see with traffic and some of these guys, but do we know where the elderly will be taken?
[Todd:] What we're told, Brooke, is that they're being taken to a restaurant at a shopping center not far from here for now and then they're going to find some other facilities. They just want to get them into a warm, stable building and then they're going to find other facilities where they can take them. But that's a little unclear at the moment.
[Baldwin:] My goodness. Brian Todd, thank you so much, in New York, with all of that snow. And, again, just the incredible strength from these first responders to get through it and get people to safety. Thank you so much. We'll check back in with you. Now to this. We are mere hours away from President Obama's announcement of his go it alone executive action on immigration. You know, listen, this is a controversial move. It is a move that could shield more than 3 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The speech, set for tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time, it is already infuriating the Republican Party. Some members of Congress calling the president an emperor for strong-arming the issue without congressional input. So we'll get to the political fallout here in just a second. But first, just perspective check here. You might have heard the number of undocumented immigrants coming to the United States is rising. That's wrong. OK. According to Pew, you can see that number has actually levelled off. You see the graph. Where do these undocumented immigrants settle? Well, if you look at the pie chart, the answer, you see the red piece there, California with 25 percent, followed by orange, Texas, and then Florida and then New York. But the soon to be the soon to be expected majority leader in the Senate says this isn't about the people, this is about politics.
[Sen. Mitch Mcconnell , Kentucky:] It seems to be about what a political party thinks would make for good politics. It seems to be about what a president think would be good for his legacy. Those are not the motivations that should be driving such sweeping action.
[Baldwin:] Now, President Obama says, hold on, for years he's been saying he did not want to act on immigration without Congress. Here he was.
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The biggest problems that we're facing right now have to do with George Bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through Congress at all. And that's what I intend to reverse when I'm president of the United States of America. Congress passes the law. The executive branch's job is to enforce and implement those laws. I take executive action only when we have a serious problem, a serious issue, and Congress chooses to do nothing.
[Baldwin:] We will discuss this throughout the show. Got a number of guests lined up for you. And make sure you watch CNN's live special coverage of the president's address, as we mentioned, tonight, 8:00 Eastern, and we'll watch it here live on CNN. Don't miss that. Next, as we follow that breaking news as we showed you there in Buffalo, New York, part of the roof, as Brian Todd was covering live for us, it has collapsed. They're having to evacuate a number of these, you know, elderly folks from this home into safe areas because they can't stay there. Our cameras are all over Buffalo and the surrounding area. People in Buffalo still trapped inside their homes as round two of this historic storm is slamming the region. We'll talk to a Buffalo Bills football player. And new video has surfaced showing Bill Crosby responding to rape allegations. It's awkward and it comes as his entire legacy is threatened. Stay with me.