story. thank you. that's all for now, but the conversation continues on our website aljazeera.com/considerthis or on our facebook or google plus pages and you can find us on twitter @ajconsiderthis. see you next time. hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. the black boxes critical in the investigation into flight 17. tonight pro-russian separatists have finally handed them over. we'll have information from the crash site and washington. push for peace. secretary of state john kerry in cairo tonight trying to broker a deal between israel and hamas as the debt toll mounts on both sides. >> in custody death, a suspect dice after an officer puts him in a choke hold.

information on this trorvel are controversial tactic. national guard troops ordered to the border. will their presence help or hurt the immigration bament? battle? >> you're looking at a live picture of gaza city on the left and the right, the crash site of malaysia flight 17. both war zones have the world's attention. we begin with flight 17 and on a day of major new developments it's important to remember the lives lost in the tragedy. this is a picture of tessa van der sand, just 26, worked for amnesty international. they were on their way to

dmeech. indonesia. lisa stark has the story. >> it is unclear where those boxes, the flight data recorder the cockpit voice recorder, were found but they have been turned over. that's good news indeed. the security council voting unanimously for complete access to the crash site. foreign minister julie bishop, speaks about the gross evidence at the bodies, of the personal effects, australia lost at least 27 people aboard this plane.

>> it is despicable that this access is not being provided. it is an affront to the victims and their families. all states, armed groups, everyone. must cooperate with the investigation. >> reporter: the u.s. ambassador to the u.n, samantha powers, took aim at the russians saying the resolution passed would not even have been necessary if the russians had put pressure on the separatists to let investigators in, in the first place. that remark drew a rebuke from russia's u.n. ambassador who says they are working behind the scenes to move the investigation forward. >> and if that's the fact and the american embassy should be better informed and indeed there's no need to turn the discussion of a tragedy into a farce. >> reporter: now the u.n. resolution also calls for those in the area where this plane came down not to tamper with the evidence.

not to tamper with the crash debris but already it's a little late for that it seems. john. >> lisa stark reporting. a train carrying the victims' remains is on its way to kharkiv. scott heidler has that. >> the remains are in these refrigerated train carriages. after itselfing for more than 30 hours, they finally left terez. bound for kharkiv. the first step in getting these bodies from the crash scene to their families. another team of international investigators also arrived in kharkiv a city about five hours north of the crash site and beyond the reach of separatist control. the teams here are waiting to get on with their job receiving the bodies and accessing the large area where this plane went

down. there is much work ahead and a recent flare up of fighting could make that even more difficult. the bodies will then make their way to the netherlands to continue the investigation. again underline russia is to blame. >> translator: it is also absolutely clear that the drunken pro-russian terrorists cannot operate a missile system. these are separatists who have been trained and we have information confirming that the training took place on russian territory. they received financing, weapons, training and education from russia. >> reporter: russia's president pushed back saying now is not the time for politics. >> translator: no one should and no one has the right to use this tragedy to fulfill their own selfish political goals. these eefnghts should not divide but unite -- these events should not divide but unite these

participants. >> scott heidler al jazeera, kharkiv, ukraine. >> joining us is tom roa rogan. >> thank you. >> let's talk about how much responsibility you think vladimir putin has for what happened here. >> i think he has a lot of responsibility and i think that for a number of reasons. the russian intelligence services and special forces have been training separatist rebels in eastern ukraine for a long time. especially in donetske, where this aircraft went down. but there's another point here that the russians have actively been trying to bring down the ukrainian sense of sovereignty, a sense of national united ukraine. although president putin is making a lot of rhetoric about the need to unite instead of

divide, the sense of disdain that has been applied to the dead and the absolute disdain for the very investigation itself i think speaks to the fact that the russian ves no interest at all in an investigation that seeks the truth. >> how is the european press playing the story? >> well, i think it's quite interesting because the european press up until now has been hedging because especially on the opinions side, because a lot of europeans obviously see the financial importance. although they wouldn't like to admit it but they understand on an implicit level that russia and the european union have very close ties and they are concerned of those ties being jeopardized. especially not of the actual shoot down itself but the russian reaction to the shoot down, again, that disdain, there is a sizable element of the european union now both at the political level, at the populace

level, the dialogue is moving towards a much tougher line. i think it's interesting to see what's happening over the coming days -- sorry. >> how does the eu put more pressure on russia? >> what has to happen i think is that the germans have to take a lead. certainly the british and the netherlands have been taking a tougher stance in the last 24 hours. the germans will be pivotal. germany's position as the leader essentially of the european union but it's going to take a concerted push on the obama administration as well, because the europeans will away want to have -- will want to have confidence that the united states is supporting them as well. bubbling below the surface of the eu political implications. >> there's a sense that the economic sanctions just simply haven't worked.

what about in queurm. >> -- europe? >> i think john what we've seen is a calculation by the european union that quite frankly ukraine is not worth the economic consequences that sanctions, major sanctions would produce for european businesses. but because of what's happened here, the downing of an aircraft, 33,000 feet, hundreds dead, such an impact such a symbol of russian intransigence against western european democracy and trade and the very essence of justice, there's a sea change and it takes something of this effect to create that sort of reaction, much tougher statements coming from the british government especially over the last 24 hours. >> tom rogan, it's good to see you, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> in gaza, today at least five people in a hospital that was

shelled by an israeli tank, israel says hamas missiles were hidden nearby. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the campaign is set to escalate. >> translator: we are preparing here for a continuation. we have a plan and we are prepared to do whatever it takes in the gaza strip and above all to protect the state of israel. >> secretary of state john kerry landed in cairo tonight. there you see him getting off the plane to negotiate a ceasefire, he says it's up to hamas to stop a bloodshed. the u.s. said it will provide $47 million for humanitarian aid in the the palestine area. nick schifrin is here. >> artillery shells, we're hearing f-16s dropping huge bombs as well as bombs flying from gun ships from the mediterranean into gaza.

being the streals told the palestinians to leave, but in an area where israel closed and many gazans say, where do we go? >> not their homes. this morning thousands of families moved from the area that got bombarded. the family got aleaflet, warning them to evacuate. they didn't wait. >> translator: we left so quickly we left everything at home. we brought just this bag, my phone and the clothes i'm weaker. displr are you scared when you hear the bombs in your neighborhood? >> translator: we have no place and nowhere to go. when they bomb we are scared and frightened. >> reporter: and so what do you do when you're scared, when you hear that boom what do you do? >> i go to my father and he hugs

me. >> reporter: they have no family or friends had a can stay them in. the only place that's willing, a u.n. school but it's already overcrowded and running short of supplies. as we arrived, palestinian are fighters fire a barrage of rockets from a nearby launcher. two of them fly towards tel aviv. these kids cheer. they tell me they hope they land not in israel but in the united states. this whereas the site of the al axa hospital. israeli shells went through the roof and walls and caused chaos. dozens of patients quickly evacuated. at this point are you able to care for the injured who are in your hospital before? >> of course not.

we can't treat anyone or take care of any patients. >> reporter: you were in this room when the shell hit. the doctor takes us on a tour of the damage. he practiced for 20 years and survived three wars since 2008. he said israel has never been this aggressive. >> translator: even the medical staff were seriously injured. the hospital should be the safest place in the world. when people know that their houses are not safe they come to the hospital seeking safety. >> reporter: this room is, was, in the post-surgical ward. israel sed the target was a nearby cache of anti-tank weapons, gazans respond with a question that has no answer. if their hospitals aren't safe, if their homes aren't safe, where are they supposed to go? as the israeli bombardment

continues tonight, east gaza up to the israeli border are completely black. there's a huge blackout and each of these bombs that israel is dropping, are getting closer and closer to gaza city. that's why so many residents are asking where do we go? >> many support the operation in gaza. many of them question they regret the civilian deaths but still in favor of the military campaign. kim vanel reports from jerusalem. >> reporter: in israel bulletins lead. pictures of palestinian suffering rarely make prime time news. a veteran news anchor choking up during coverage of a military funeral. soldier deaths going to the heart of the israeli psyche. these men are considered heroes.

even the israelis know the difference in coverage. a major channel during debate of the gaza crisis but israeli public opinion is for the most part one-sided. >> the national interest is above everything. they must finish the job there. >> hurts what's happening to the people in gaza but hamas if they use them as a shield. >> israeli journalists aren't allowed into gaza and the message is carefully constructed. online the military post almost hourly update that don't mention civilian casualties. clips uploaded are in line with the official government message that this is an operation against terrorists. but on the ground the death and destruction appear indiscriminate and palestinian civilians are dying. is. >> when there is a situation whereby you are anyhow targeted

and bloodshed sadly is anyhow in the air, the general feeling is if we don't fight this then we'll die anyhow except in gloriously and off the battlefield. people sais we might as well -- say we might as well fight. >> people are galvanized it appears by israeli deaths, preparing israelis and palestinians for a continuation of the conflict. kim vanel, al jazeera, west jerusalem. >> coming up next, governor rick perry's calling in the national guard. plus, the nypd calling into question their methods after a suspect was put in a choke hold.

the israeli / palestinian conflict, stay with al jazeera america, your global news leader.

>> cornell university president david skorton >> is a college education worth the price? >> discusses the purpose of college >> students allow yourself to dream... it's very, very, important >> and his post university plans >> the intersection of the sciences and the arts was very attractive to me... >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> if governor of texas is deploying a thousand national guard troops to the border with mexico. heidi zhou-castro reports from dallas. >> 1,000 texas national guardsmen are deployed to the rio grande valley. what they won't do according to

governor rick perry is target the migrant children who have been overwhelming border patrol since earlier this year. perry says he's seen this humanitarian crisis firsthand and he says it's taking border patrol resources away from catching criminals. >> i will not stand idly by while our citizens are under assault and little children from central america are detained in squalor. we are too good a country for that to occur. that is why today, i am using my executive authority as governor of texas and activating the national guard. >> reporter: perry says the federal government has failed in its duty to secure the border. a criticism he's launched time and time again against the obama administration. now this national guard buildup will be funded by state money, $12 million a month and perry says he expects to send that bill to the federal government

and he expects to be r re r rei. >> paul beban is on this story, paul. >> border patrol agents away from their other duties and the governor says drug cartels are taking advantage of that. the number of drug seizures at the border has gone down. the question is why. whatever the reason some analysts say extra troops are not money well spent. it is a start ling correlation as the number of undocumented children hitting the border has soared the number of drug busts have plummeted. the most recent data from the drug enforcement administration says from california to texas seizures of cocaine marijuana

heroin and met meth am methamphe is dropping. they say the border patrol is stretched too at this point. that agents are distracted and that the drug cartels are exploiting the opportunity. perry's solution, send in the national guard. but analysts we spoke to say that won't stop the flow of immigrants. >> sending the national guard to the border will certainly do nothing to change this immigration crisis we have. with undocumented immigrants with children coming across the border. >> that's because for the most part the immigrants want to be caught. they're actually looking for border agents to detain them so they can make a legal case to stay in the u.s. the national guard won't stop the flow of immigrants and said

former dea agent michael vigil won't help either. >> sending more troops to the national border is not going to have a discernible impact on the drug trade. military forces are not trained to do counter-drug effort. >> reporter: vigil says the current drug crisis will do little or nothing to change the tactics of the drug cartels. driving right past the checkpoints atit at teeit at ti. >> what will the border patrol

actually do? the analysts we spoke to say not much except maybe governor perry look like he's trying to do something. the border patrol has already doubled in size the last seven years. it's now the second largest law enforcement second only to fbi and even the current crisis apprehensions are near 40-year low. it's not actually about stopping people at the border, but before they come north. >> the size of the crisis, apparently the number according to the white house is actually dropping. >> in june the average was 355 children every day crossing the rio grande. that dropped to 150. the white house is saying they're not exactly sure why but it's part of their belief to publicize the fact that the journey is very difficult and to tell people in central america to stay home. >> paul beban, thank you. washington and organize are

battling at least 20 major wildfires, dry and windy conditions aren't helping. one fire in central washington has destroyed nearly 150 homes. crews are helping for relief sometime soon. temperatures have dropped in the past few days and conditions are expected to improve in the middle of the week. kevin corriveau has it all coming up right now, kevin. >> that's right, john. two big stories to talk about. first out here towards the northwest. we are seeing an improvement right now. temperatures this last week were into the 90s. that is what fueled the hot dry air across the region. seattle at 73, dropping to 68° by the time we get to wednesday. the rain is going to come in and that is going to be on wednesday. can you see here to the northern part of washington, oregon is still going to be try unfortunately and right now, this is what we're looking at, parts of north dakota as well as

into minnesota. right now this is going to be long lasting all the way through tomorrow morning. a closer look, looks like this, we are going to be seeing those thunderstorms start to ease out of north dakota, mostly affect parts of minnesota this evening. this is where you call, this line of thunderstorms starts to get longer, especially now in the overnight hours. we also had a lot of activity in terms of wind damage, hail damage, as well as one tornado has been reported on the ground in parts of north dakota. what's going ohappen here is that wind damage is looking to continue. we expect to see winds anywhere from 60 and 80 miles per hour. there's been reports already this evening a lot of tree limbs are down across the region and of course that also means we are going to be seeing power lines down. earlier tomorrow morning we'll see this line of thunderstorms affect minneapolis, that will affect travel across that region, john.

>> thank you kevin. coming up next, the water is still flowing in detroit, even by those that can't an afford to pay the bill. and taking the life of afternoon 11-year-old. city residents are trying to find the solution.

>> this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. coming up an internal investigation of the nypd after a man dies in police custody. was it before -- because he was put in a choke hold? plus, the bankrupt city of detroit is keeping the water on, even for people who can't afford to pay their bills, that is for now. and, remembering the life of legendary screen actor james garner. all that's coming up but first let's get caught up on our two top stories. pro-russian separatists have turned in the black boxes from malaysia flight 17.

just a few hours ago in eastern ukraine. in the area controlled by the are pro-russian separatists. secretary of state john kerry is in cairo now to try onegotiate a ceasefire. it's up to hamas he says to accept a truce. at least 571 palestinians have now been killed in the israeli offensive. a third have been children. 7 israeli soldiers have been killed just in the past 24 hours. it is controversy to put pressure on new york police department. a man died in police custody last week, the question is whether a tactic banned by the nypd played a role in his death. jonathan betz has been following this. jonathan.

>> john, eric gardner died in police cut. already, first responders have been stripped of their duties as authorities try to find out what happened last thursday. >> it started as a routine bust on a staten island street. the 350 pound man resisted. what happened next is the focus of an discretion. that cry has sparked so much pain and anger. garner an asthmatic, pleaded for help as an officer appeared to use a choke hold on him. it was a tactic that was banned over two decades ago. >> it appeared to have been a choke hold. >> reporter: the nypd says two officers were put on desk duty while the event was

investigated. a completely unwarranted knee jerk reaction for political reasons and nothing more. death has provoked demonstrations and protests from his family. >> they r there are concerns that they waited too long to treat him. broader investigation of the nypd's use of the banned tactic. gotten more than 100,000 allegations of officers using choke holds in the past five years. it fully investigated half, nine of the cases were confirmed. and in two of the nine cases, were not enough evidence to come to a conclusion. but the cause of garner's is

undisputed. >> an unarmed black man was subjected to a choke hold and the result is: he is no longer with us. >> it is still unclear whether a choke hold had a part of his death. >> john aborn, president of a police watchdog commission. >> thank you john happy to be here. >> tell us what you see. >> fortunately we have the full video and we see exactly what happened here. in an odd way that will be an opportunity for everybody to understand what the sequence was and learn from this absolutely horrible tragic incident. there are numerous people investigating this, the staten island district attorney, the ccrb will take a look, the new york city police department,

plenty of agencies. for us, why did this happen and what can be done to prevent it. >> a large person who is struggling against police, how are police supposed to deal with that? >> the reason very few people do it isists a carkt sport. it's a very rough business and sometimes these sorts of things happen. >> sit acceptable to use a choke hold? >> it's never acceptable to use choke hold. the [ ypd has for years banned the choke hold. >> how do you take down people in a way like this? >> bratton is a very sharm commissioner, he has already said there will have to be additional strange on this. i'd almost rather say a talk-down rather than otake-down but let's let the facts come out before we are placed on defense.

>> what one has a role to play? >> there are actually two videos. the question is should they have done something in terms of first aid for mr. gardner while he was laying on the ground? that's the subject of a separate investigation being carried out by the fire department. >> we've heard this as being political, and this could become a political issue with the new mayor and the police chief. why is it important that the city deal with this and deal with it the right way? >> we're hearing about it being called political on both sides. this is a time to take a breath and cool down a little bit and let the investigations take their course. we shouldn't prejudge, we should wait to see what the investigators say. to me what opportunities do we have to learn from this? you can have a hypothetical

issue where nothing goes wrong. or spray him with place, many police departments do, he is asthmatic, he would have gone into arrest. how do we change the tactics or train the polic police officersd assure the public that everything was done in the correct way? >> they had spond because they had been the victim of soful, law enforcement and the african american community. so how does everyone work it out so that you know the justice has been done? >> so you are absolutely right and unfortunately in new york, this comes under the stop and frisk policy of nypd. when you step back you see that the nypd has literally huns of

thousands of contacts with citizens everyone single year. they arrest 400,000 people a year and yet there are relatively very few complaints about excessive force and virtually no complaints about this type thing if you will. the nypd had a problem in the past of actually shooting civilians. and whether they puts that in place a number of injuries my hut be reported. >> the mayor stopped the stop and frisk policy. >> when he was out there in los angeles investigating excessive use of force, he turned that department around, repair relationships with the community and drive crime down and that's exactly what i expect him to do here. >> nice to have you with us.

>> thank you. >> violence that's plaguing their city and the ways people were trying to shot. four of are the people including an 11-year-old boy. diane eastabrook has more. >> edwin williams says there have been so many shootings nearby he wouldn't let his daughter ayani with him. >> it will be only a couple of hours and. >> 11-year-old shamiya adams was one who was simply prerpting in a weekend trip. >> on ways to stop the violence. >> it's about where the guns are coming from. where the law enforcement is.

where our neighborhood and our communities are, where our parents are. where are our investments. >> some community activists were encouraged. >> the first thing that gave me hope was that they are all working together, that's unheard of, and they're all listening with the communities. >> police here in inglewood say, in recent years the violence has gotten out of control and they're not sure if more cops and stricter gun laws are really the answer. emanuel says are are the situation needs more jobs and education. it's also looking for ways to bring businesses to neighborhoods where there are hardly any. edwin williams says jobs might be a way to get some criminals off the streets. >> we're going to have to do other things, things like hustle

and steal to take care of their families. >> it's been increasingly difficult to do in neighborhood like his, diane eastabrook, al jazeera. >> 20-year-old agreed to got rid of items inside disork tsarnae k tsarnaev's dorm room. >> in detroit, the water department has temporarily lost its campaign to shut off water if they have 15 days behind on their bills. bisi onile-ere bisi onile-ere reports. >> up until now thousands of delinquent customers face this. with a few turns of a wrench, water was cut to dozens of droit

homes last week. this was the new aggressive approach the bankrupt city was taking to collect roughly 90 million in unpaid bills. while it could take less than ten minutes to shut off service, aifnger from influences -- anger from influences, pay up.oh or lose running water. she owes over $800, living on a fixed income and caring for teenage grand sons, she says. >> which one you got odo without, you know? ist really, it's -- it's really irnl at a. >> the detroit nearly 40% of the population lives below the poverty line.

the united nations have called the shutoffs humane. >> no, we're not stopping without a fight. this is about our life. >> reporter: but long time resident barbara cheetham says this is about priorities not human rights. >> there are, i have to budget out everything, it's like water, lights, gas, 15, even my foot car payments insurance and everything so that's how i feel about it. if you pay one bill, you pay them all. >> reporter: and for those two can't, the city made about a $1100 for help. >> we can direct folks to other plates where they can use. >> i'm counting on the lord to

help me. >> reporter: as far as the water department, it will inform residents of older options before cutting the power to businesses again. bisi onile-ere, detroit. >> you $some major news about boston's bankruptcy proceedings, medal of hor honor to army staff sergeant ryan pitts. he received the medal during his tour ever duty. barack obama says the honor belongs to everyone who fought alongside pitts. >> this medal ryan says is an opportunity to tell our story. there was valor everywhere, according to ryan and so today we also paid tribute to all who

served with such l, unexplodemissiles with their hands and carrying them away. running through the gun fire to reinforce that post. fighting through their injuries and never giving up. >> the immediate at of honor is the highest award to be received during battle. three al jazeera staff members have been in prison in egypt for 205 days. peter greste, baher mohamed and mohamed fahmy have been charged with eighthing the muslim brotherhood. a charge al jazeera. convicted in absentia for spreading false news, she was on the daily.

>> this freagestaff.com, that's gone viral. but also, have a conchess about where you are going with your dollars. >> vote with your dollars. >> correct. maybe this isn't the time to look at the permits at the moment. >> right. >> i asked her about our latest information about our colleagues in a egyptian prison? in they are in a storm tri, they were before in a cell 3 meters by four meters, pretty have grim. mohamed fahmy is getting treatment on his broken shoulder which is good news. as far as looking to the future, we are really looking to an appeal and possibly a retrial so that's september, october, they

have got an awful lot longer in prison before they can even hope to get out. >> what did they do? what were they doing? what do you say to that? >> you know i.t. was clear from the trial this wasn't any kind of forensic look with the way we treated this city at all. there feels more like we're pawns in the much bigger picture. we know that beings qatar pretty much backed the mohamed morsi government. >> the government of qatar which actually funds al jazeera english and al jazeera america. >> exactly. it's true to say they were very much backing the muslim brotherhood and now they've been removed. egypt and qatar are not friends at all. there's a big chasm between them. >> how do you think journalism as changed? in the last ten years from your

standpoint? >> i've joined as afghanistan correspondent for al jazeera. i've covered that part of the world, libya, syria, when you're in the war zone, you kind of know the threats. some of the areas like ethiopia, in pooh normal environment that there is this almost sinister presence that is closing down the freedom of the press. and there is a hope that after all this is over, are hopefully the charges against us, the charges have been dropped we pray, that maybe we can keep this momentum going, there's such an energy now on this keep the free press free. >> that's al jazeera journalist sue turtin. warning that the cure for restoring privacy has risks as well. our science and technology

exonlt jake warconsultant jake n francisco tonight. getting out ahead of criminal hackers and the sorts of intrusion he we've seen from government surveillance programs and agencies like the nsa. hopex is about government surveillance. male programs and mobile phones designed to protect against snooping by the government and one company showed off makeup designs that could foil surveillance. the most incredible was edward snowden. >> we have to, the grad students of the world have to be thinking about what they can do to fix this. they need to think in adversarially terms. they need -- adversarial terms. they have to think of how are the worst people on earth going otry osubvert and break your

system to not just damage individuals but to damage governments, to shield themselves from oversight and accountability. and what can you do, what do you know, what can you think up to help shield us from that? >> but of course there was something for everyone at this event. there was bitcoin atms there were programs that wipe out ads at any point. the techniques used to steal your secrets from the government, can be used to steal money or anything else. there's in china a cutting edge of nation responsibilities. in our world acknowledge the cutting edge is the criminal world or nsa. it all comes together at this event. it is really the effort of getting out ahead of what someone might come up with this private. if you set your phone down,

there's software that can sense what you're teaching on the keyboard. this is the software that is designed to go out in front or to get into criminal hands as well. >> james garner's legacy on and offer camera. how he redefined the role of lead aman, next. -- leading man next. >> they will continue looking for survivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now

>> well, we are continuing to watch what is happening here in the western pacific again. we have a new typhoon increasing in intensity. the first typhoon we saw a couple of weeks ago made its way towards japan. the one we saw last week, made its way to philippines. this one called are matmo is making its way to taiwan. it could be the equivalent of a category 2 hurricane if i.t. was in the atlantic. on wednesday morning, taiwan though the biggest factor here is going to be the amount of rain that we see across the island nation. anywhere between 16 and 20 inches of rain is expected to fall. and it is one of those countriesing that incredibly mountainous. we expect to see flash flooding across the river valleys and that's going to cause landslides and mudslides as well. we're going to ski this land

very, very carefully. the atlantic, this fellow here is tropical depression 2, could be a problem by the time we get towards the end of the week. that is a look at your national weather, your news is right after this.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> a classic theme, a classic tv show i guess if you're of a certain age. the opening of the rockford files. james garner who also turned his hand to politics. giving his character a bit of humor. garner died over the weekend he was 86 years old. joining us is brian balthazar, brian great to see you. >> and you. >> why did james garner work, why did he stand out in your

opinion? >> he had a combination of grit and wit wit. he didn't have that picture-perfect guy, but he had an appeal to several generations. maverick in late '50s and early '60s, the rockford files, and the quie from the notebook, that was ryan gosling as an old man. >> when i looked at the new york times biography obit on him, i was surprised how much he worked. in the '50s, '60s and '70s they did a tremendous amount of work. >> maverick was a defining role although it was only three seasons that people still remember him for. >> he was a democrat right? >> he was a big democrat. people went after him to run for

office. i'm a democrat. it's okay we thil you'll win. he was staunchly opposed to actors running for office. he was in the march on washington. he held hands with diahann carroll. and he was partial native american, and he was, many don't know, a marijuana smoker. we learned in his memoirs, that he smoked marijuana, he thought alcohol circulate have been illegal. >> is he known best for maverick or the rockford files? >> i would say they were similar characters in a different environment. some will always think of him as that cowboy. but he was a cowboy in a trailer as rockford. that self deprecating humor and wink in his eye in everything he

did. >> as a leading man that was new. >> both were unorthodox, he wasn't quick to fight on screen. there was always some kind of wit or joke. okay, we're going to have to fight, okay we'll fight. that was a different approach at the time. >> was there a combination of star that did both, a lot of tv and a lot of movies as well? >> well he kind of did one at a time. he started out in films but didn't have any great roles. then he went to the show on tv. he ended up suing the studios, both maverick and rockford. >> i didn't know that. >> usually those things were over money and that was the case. but he went where the good work was. whether that was on stage film or television commercials. the kodak commercials with

plvmentariette-z with mariette hartley. she used to wear tee shirts that said, "i'm not james garner's wife." >> maf are rick -- maverick is a way to think of him, a well-liked guy by his colleagues. >> thank you brian, for coming back. >> thank you. >> now the picture of the day, an italian cyclist at the tour de france. , the cycling tournament's second rest day. one week left of the competition. that's our news for tonight. we'll see you tomorrow night. "america tonight" with joie chen is coming up right after this. don't go away.

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ave r to make sure that the truth is t existing. >> president obama wants a thorough investigation into the downed passenger plane. russian president vladimir putin still touching, while the dutch grief. >> they were -- grieve. >> they will never come back again. >> and it seems like this is a