>> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. new details about the shooting in ferguson, missouri. 18-year-old michael brown was involved in a convenience store robbery the same day but the officer who shot him and killed him didn't know anything about that robbery. hopes for unity in iraq. the man tapped to be the next prime minister said he'll salvage the country, but he has just three weeks to form a government. and vastly under estimated

dire new warnings of the spread of ebola, and how long it could take to get it under control. >> major new details on the shooting death of michael brown. the police officer who stopped brown did not know he was a suspect in a robbery. this comes after police released veins image surveillance images of brown and identified him as a suspect in a robbery. it happened a short time before brown was shot and killed. authorities also released the name of a police officer who shot brown today. darren wilson a seven-year veteran of the force. the police chief jackson gave more details. >> i know the initial contact was not related to the robbery.

>> you're telling us when the officer shot michael brown the first time, he was not aware that brown was a suspect in a robbery. >> no, he was coming off the sick case, which is why the ambulance was there so quickly. >> did he know he was a suspect in a case, or did he not know. >> no, he didn't. >> then why release the video. >> at this point why did he stop michael brown? >> because they were walking down the middle of street blocking traffic. he was a gentleman, a quiet officer, and he was--he is and has been an excellent police officer for the police department. >> how has he been affected by this? >> he's devastated. he did not intend for any of

this to happen. >> if the murder and the robbery did not come together, why did the video come out and the robbery if it was not related with the. >> because the press asked for it. >> diane, what more did we learn about what happened the day of the shooting? >> well, there's a lot of confusion, tony, about the day of the shooting. the information from a press conference, the accomplices mentioned the name of the officer, officer wilson, and he also mentioned prior to the shooting that there was this robbery, and then he--but he wouldn't answer any questions about it. then he handed out a packet of information-- >> diane, diane, diane. >> yes. >> stop for a second. first of all, back to this question, what the heck is going on around you? >> reporter: there is a protest

that's been going on here all day. people gathered here this morning around the time of the protest, and they've been out here all day. it's sort of a continuation of what we've been seeing all week. >> and the honking of the horns, is that new day or has that been going on all week as well. >> reporter: that's been going on for the past couple of days. it started last night when the people were allowed to come out here and protest freely, we saw it going on all evening. and it started this afternoon around noon people were gathered out here for the press conference. and then they've been out here all day protesting. ever since. >> okay, everyone who is watching you is hearing this noise. we need to address it. let me get to the original question. what more did we learn about what happened on the day of that shooting? >> well again as i was saying it was very confusing because we

heard there was an armed--a strong-armed robbery before that, and then they released information showing a video, and the police alleged it could have been that he was a suspect, that michael brown was a suspect. they said they put out information over the radio of what he was wearing. there was a description of him, and it appeared, although they didn't say it earlier, it appeared that the officer, officer wilson, had gotten that information. now we hear later this afternoon when they did have a press conference that he hadn't gotten that information. that he had stopped brown because he was walking in the road. there has been an awful lot of confusion. >> and the head of security, i understand, was not consulted about the release of the information about the robbery. talk to me about the gap here, the disconnect here.

>> reporter: exactly. captain johnson had a press conference, and they talked about the fact that they thought these two incidents were linked, and captain johnson, as we said, we have a sound bite. >> it's unfair to speak on something that i don't know about. but the things i do know about i will speak to. the things i can give answers to i will give to you. i promise you that and i will continue to do that. >> i would have liked-- >> this is part of a larger investigation. he wished he had known about it, too. he said, we looked at the arrest. the shooting, and then we hear about this armed robbery. it's part of the bigger picture, and we alluded to getting more

information as the investigation continued. so obviously the governor thought that the two were linked as well. >> diane estherbrook in ferguson, missouri. thank you. emotions ran high after police say that michael brown was robbery suspect, many in the community including brown's family say the police department is trying to discredit brown. ron johnson told the community to remain calm. >> in our anger we have to make sure that we don't burn down our own house. we don't go down there and vanda vandalize our own buildings. we can stand on the sidewalk and talk about what we want and what we need. it's a conversation that needs to happen and we can make that happen. but i don't want to us to go down and burn our own neighborhood. that does not solve an issue. it hurts this community. that's what i don't wan. >> ash har quaraishi joins us

live from ferguson. how is the community reacting to this extraordinary back and forth from the police about the robbery? >> well, clearly, tony, reaction is mixed. for days residents have been asking for the name of that police officer to be released. they're glad that it has been released, but we're questioning the timing, the fact that it was released today along side what you've been talking about all this time, the surveillance video, which we learn had nothing to do for the reason that michael brown was stopped in the first place. there is distrust. a lot of think there is a cover up and why can is the police releasing this information that is unrelated to the end result, which is the lethal force used against michael brown over the weekend. listen to what one person said go the release. >> why did it take so long to find this out. why did it take so long to say anything about a robbery when no business in the neighborhood was

claiming to be robbed. >> that's a bunch of bull crap. it's going to be covered up. that's the bottom line. they ain't never going to do anything about it, and until they get black come cops in these black areas it will be a business mess. until they come up with a verdict there will an problem. >> reporter: tony, that is the problem. you have residents who are already distrustful of the police force. they're distrustful of the investigation and what they call a lack of transparency. today the family of michael brown reacted to the fact that they released this information today. they called it deviant on the part of the ferguson police cleave. they called it an attempt to assassinate th the reputation of michael brown. >> we heard the new head of security from the highway patrol saying the scene has significantly calmed down.

that might have been the case last night. i don't know if that's the case. that's the question for you, is that still the case after these two news conferences today from the officer gus son police chief? >> reporter: well, we haven't seen anything today. we're pretty much at the epicenter where these protests have been taking place. they were expecting this information to come out at some point. they are angry about the fact that the veins video and these photographs were released today, but it doesn't seem to be bubbling up at this point to what it has been like the last few days. last night it was much more loud, boisterous, and largely peaceful. again there is not that police presence, and that may be a contributing factor to what the temperament is here today. things have gone chaotic after dark. it will be interesting to see what does happen after nightfall in ferguson. >> ash har quaraishi for us in ferguson, missouri. we should tell you that captain johnson made a rare gesture at a

press conference. he i invited ferguson residents to ask questions along side the reporters. >> we know this seventh isn't a perfect world. you say you have a barbershop. it doesn't mean that you have a good barber. that's the way of the world. when i got home last night my daughter sent me this. she said, daddy, were you scared? i said, yes, a little bit. she said, daddy, i want you to remember when jesus asked peter to walk with him on the water. when jesus got scared h peter got scared jesus picked him up. and i know he'll pick us up, and he'll pick this community up. >> as ash har mentioned moments ago last night was the first

peaceful night since the death of michael brown. many attribute it to the man you just saw there. he was promoted to captain troop c which overseas 11 counties including st. louis. he was only 39 years old at the time. joining us now is jonathan clark a blogger in st. louis who does news analysis for website politics in color. >> hi, how are you. >> great on my end. i have a bunch of questions for you. what is your reaction to the back and forth, the latest police news conference. let's start there. >> so i think the thing that we need to understand first of all in order to frame this is understand that something that one of your soundbites said just earlier before me, you talked about a verdict. if you understand that, that there is a possibility, a strong

possibility that an indictment could come out of this, and that there could be a trial, there is a jury pool that has to come from here. there is this consideration now, there is the possibility that we've got to consider that could any of this information that's being released now about some link between a robbery and michael-- >> i can see what you're saying. >> could this have anything to do. >> and to taint a perspective jury pool. >> not just here in st. louis, but also not just here in st. louis county, but the surrounding counties. understand this as well, tony, this region, when you're talking about the midwest, you're talking about a place where it's a law and order place. it's a place that wants to believe its police, it wants to believe its prosecutors and

wants to believe in the system. it doesn't want to believe that a police officer is going to gun down a teenager in the middle of the street in broad daylight. it's got to have a reason to nullify any of that. so how much does the release of this video potentially connect to the police and officers who we were waiting for for better than a week. i think that hopefully that frames. >> give me a moment. give me a moment. you're all over this point, and let's deal with it. it's in the room, so let's deal with it. how does or to what extent the fact that michael brown was involved in this robbery moments before his confrontation with the officer, darren wilson. how much does that fact, that set of facts change the narrative around michael brown's death? if not in reality, in percepti perception. if not in reality, in perception.

>> you know, analytically and objectively it shouldn't. the shooting of michael brown all by itself, if he had his hands up as so many witnesses have said, should stand alone. but you and i both know that there are folks who are saying, and they have to be careful how to phrase this. >> i know. >> there are folks who say he deserved it, or he's the kind of guy who deserved it. >> even if they don't want to go that far, they might say he was no angel. >> he was not angel, and this, the release of this video puts that in the water. you know, i think that's what the community is going to start focusing on. then you have captain johnson, the matter of captain johnson, who is supposed to be on the ground in no other compass pit, no investigative capacity, no capacity but late liaison for

the community that he is in charge. and then you blindside him. he must have asked, what's going on here? how do you blindside the guy who you put up there to create some sense of communion with the community? it's embarrassing, it's an embarrassment. >> it is. look, you're a grown man. i'm always aware of what i don't know, the blind spots and my knowledge, and at the end of the day we have to conclude that the ferguson police department, how it went about doing that, why it waited so long, was there a mate gamitigated statement that could have calmed the streets

earlier, have hey mishandled that? >> unfortunately, there are more questions than answers. that's what really is bothering everyone. if you look for a common threat through all of this there have been more questions than answers. there's been an information vacuum, which has led to so much of what we see. >> i appreciate your time. thank you for being with us for much of the date. ojonathan clark, a blogger who is also a news analysis fo. nouri al-maliki will have to step down and his successor will have oh, oh to unite shia and sunni factions that distrust each other while handling the offensive in the north. >> reporter: now that nouri al-maliki has relinquished power to a new prime minister the

iraqi capitol is still a violent place. there are bombings nearly every day. the people are hopeful a peaceful transition of power will help bring about security. >> handing over the prime minister to haideral agoody is significant indication for iraq. >> reporter: and calling for the iraq's most influential cleric to speak on the security problems. >> reporter: now all eyes are on haider al abadi. he has less than a month to form a government. he has beeal maliki has been accused of isolating sunni and kurds. >> reporter: he'll have to meet with these men. they are some of the prominent

sunni tribal leaders who hold sway on the ground. they welcome maliki's departure but said it won't end the crisis. they believe the solution is in a federal iraq where sunnies will be able to govern their own territories. >> we're ready to cooperate with the new government only if sunnies get their rights. our priority is to stop government attacks against our areas and to disarm thea militias. those militias are more dangerous than the islamic state group. we will not fight that group unless our demands are met. >> reporter: for now the shia led government are relying on the militias. that grouch took much of the sunni heartland including major installations and oil field and the iraqi army who had abandoned their position and their weapons have not been able to recapture their territory. the international community is

hoping that an united iraq can defeat a group that is seen as a major threat. this is a deeply divided count country. >> a short time ago the u.n. security council voted on a resolution aimed at the islamic state in iraq. kristin saloomey joins us from the united nations. >> reporter: this resolution aims to cut off support for the islamic state group, and also thal the al nusra front. it adds six names to the list of international sanctions and calls on member states, tells them, reminds them basically that they are not allowed to buy oil from these groups or pay ransoms to these groups and it puts a real emphasis on cracking down on foreign fighters. it calls on member states to do

what they can to stop the recruitment of people from their countries joining the fight in iraq and syria, and it talks about monitoring online groups that might incite people to violence. it also expresses the security council's willingness to sanction people who fund these groups. listen to what the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. samantha power had to say about the situation. >> the al nusra front has claimed territory to which they attract others bent on violent extremism and territory from which they can launch attacks across the region to other parts of the world. this is the new front of the terrorist threat and one with a devastating human cost. >> reporter: so a real show of unity on the part of the international community in

confronting this thread and a call on all member states to do their part to stop the funding and contributions to these groups. >> all right, kristin. kristin saloomey for us. coming up getting the epidemic under control. doctors without borders say it could take six months and containing liberia is key. and in the wake of the protest in ferguson, missouri, one application stops the threat of sending machine guns to local police.

>> michael: reports of renewed fighting in ukraine led to a loss in dow street. the s&p 500 down. but the nasdaq was up today. in today's power politics 81 days until the midterm elections and the debate over the clashes in ferguson, missouri, is leaning heavily to capitol hill is this. >> several lawmakers are demanding hearings in reaction to the protests in ferguson, missouri. and now they have introduced legislation that would stop a government program that sends free military equipment of machine guns to local police.

both efforts are gaining support to the u.s. senate. some of the harshest criticism on tuesday an wednesday night have come from missouri senator claire mccaskill. the democrat has repeatedly said in off the cuff remarks to reporters that the police have been part of the problem not part of the solution. among the potential 2016 presidential candidates some of the most interesting reaction has come from kentucky senator rand paul. he published an op-ed in "time" magazine and said, if i wouldn't have been told to get out of the road as a teenager there would have been a distinct possibility that i might have smarted off but i unite have expected to be shot. quote, washington has incentivize the local police

precincts by using federal dollars for small armies where police departments compete. and ted cruz is even standing up for press freedom reporters should never be detained simply for doing their jobs. libertarian republicans have been warning for years that government agencies both of the national and local level are becoming too powerful and irresponsible and politically the events in ferguson are strengthening the libertarian presidential candidate's and republican prime minister in the extent that this issue continues. in the 2016 presidential politics residents are you buzzing over a piece in washington monthly about massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. the article suggests that warren's statements about not running for president should not be believed, and that the piece

makes a very strong chase of warn reps' chance of winning the democratic nomination should she run are a lot of stronger than clinton supporters realize. president obama, the president is now scheduled to leave his vacation on sunday and come back to washington for 48 hours. he'll return to the washington and then go back to the vineyard and his golf game on tuesday. white house officials are not giving any explanation for the interruption and the travel. they deny there are any meetings with heads of states or major announcement plans. but for someone to interrupt the billion bicycling and golfing to come back to the white house. >> something is going on. >> i'm just saying if there are ufos it may be coming back to meet him. >> david shuster. thank you. have a good weekend. coming up a closer look at the police back and forth today in ferguson.

they amichael brown was involved in a robbery the same day he was shot, but the officer who shot him didn't know anything. we have more on the fall out. that's next. the government of new hampshire talks about the use of synthetic drugs.

>> so we're learning more about the shooting death offer been son, missouri, michael brown. the police did not know that he was a robbery suspect. >> did he know or did he not? >> no, it had nothing to do with the stop. >> then why release the video. >> at this point, at this point why he stop michael brown. >> because they were walking down the middle of the street belonging traffic.

>> the police released this video today. the police say he stole cigars and pushed a store clerk who tried to stop him from leaving the store. joining us now is maria, good to see you again. first of all. >> thanks so much for having me. >> well, we've got a lot to cover here, and we understand that there might be a news conference o with the parents of michael brown. your reaction to the two news briefings today from ferguson's police chief. what are your thoughts? >> well, first i have to tell you that all of us in this community find it very suspect that not only did we find out the name of the officer who shot and killed michael brown, but at the same news conference they also talked about the accusations that michael brown was a suspect in a robbery or a

theft. so we have seen some pictures, and we don't know it to be michael brown at all, but let me just be very clear here. whatever may have happened before the interaction with the officer and michael's death, those are two separate things. so i believe first of all when the officer encountered michael brown, what happened? what was the engagement? what was the conversation? i'm sure--if that is true that michael brown did steal something in a store, it does not equate to being shot. every single american has due process. no one elected or appointed this officer to be the judge, jury and execution nery. >> so my understanding is, and i'm wondering if you have the same understanding or something different of the other young man with michael brown has confirmed that the robbery did take place. and that michael brown was

involved. do you have different information? >> the only thing i've heard, and i'd be looking at the same information that you're looking at, but what i have heard in this audience today is that the young man who was with michael brown did admit he was in that convenient store. that's where my understanding is right now. i don't know--i did not see the information that says that they committed a robbery. >> all right, so you don't think this is a coincidence that you get the information, the name of the police officer involved in the shooting, and the release of this surveillance video allegedly showing michael brown being involved in this strong-arm robbery. you don't think this is a coincidence. the matter being that you focus more on the video of the alleged robbery and michael brown's involvement, and the police officer who was involved in the shooting, is that part of what

you're thinking here? >> well, you know, everyone in this community is thinking it was any intentional move to announce these two things today, and so i think it's totally political, and that's unfortunate. what we're trying to see-- >> what i'm trying to get to--i get that you believe that it's political, but to what effect? i want you to articulate to me to what effect? >> i don't think that it effects the opinion of these people at all. they're still going to protest. they want to know michael brown died. it has nothing to do with whether or not he did a robbery. they want to know why he was killed and shot multiple times. >> right. how does or to what extent, i'm going push you on this a little bit, and this there are a couple of things i will take up with you. to what extent does michael brown may have been involved in a robbery before the interaction

with officer wilson change the narrative around michael brown's death whether you want to acknowledge it or not, does it change the narrative. >> for some people absolutely it does. i've been talking to folks who don't live in this community also part of the district. they think a little bit differently about this whole snareio. but for a community who has been threatened an intimidated on so many occasions by police officers this is nothing because they've always been assaulted by police officers, but they're more interested in why was michael brown killed by a police officer, and he didn't get just due process. every american gets due process if they do something wrong. that's what thee people who live in my community, in this community, they're not stupid. they're not stupid. they know that a theft does not equal death. >> what is going on with the officer gus son police department. iin the days, the weeks, the

months, the years before this incident, with what has been going on in that relationship, and has anyone tried to bridge that disconnect? >> well, let me just tell you this incident has caused everyone to reflect on what they have done in the past and what they're doing currently. i will tell you that the ferguson police department needs to do a better job at addressing diversity within the police department. this police department should be reflective of what people look like in this community. secondly, the ferguson police department needs to do a better job at having diversity training and insuring that every single officer on the street has the opportunity to really have genuine relationships built on trust. no intimidation, no harassment,

but what people in this community are looking for are genuine relationships. that habit happened. it hasn't occurred. i think the death of michael brown is changing the name of the game here. i think everyone is going to move forward differently. we also want an active civil review board, a citizen review board so citizens can look at all of the facts. there is one more thing that this community wants. they want the technology in place that allows them to be able to hear and see all of the interactions between an officer and someone who they may be tracking through an arrest or otherwise. >> michael: is there a dashboard cam available in the patrol cars of the police department there in ferguson? are you aware of that? >> there are only two in the department for what the chief said yesterday. >> are you worried that the good work of captain johnson of the highway patrol in literally

engaging the black community of ferguson and de-escalating the situation could come undone by the two press conferences given today by the ferguson police chief? >> no, i don't think so at all. >> captain johnson, he lives in this community. he raises his family in this community. if we started this process with johnson earlier like monday we wouldn't have had all of these problems. every single demonstration that we've had to this point has been peaceful never mind, i think i wanted to jump to the news conference, hang on for me just a second. do we have the news conference with michael brown's family? no. let me have you finish your

thoughts. captain johnson is seen as a conciliatory figure in that community right now. >> well, you know what, i'm accustomed to politics. our governor, every time he wants something from a senator he sends a black staffer, and that's obvious. that's obvious politics. and yes, johnson is african-american, but that actually means something here. i can see straight through the b.s. when it comes to the governor, and when he sends his militiamen, his senators who happen to be african-american, but i'm not dealing with that right now. i'm dealing with what this community desires. they want someone who looks like them. it happens to be working in this community. that you have someone who looks like them and is from this community. i hope we're able to move forward. but what is important to this community is the transparency and the investigation, number one, but that's been done as important. what happened between the time of the injured action with this

officer and the times that michael brown died when i was killed, shot in the head a couple of times. what happened between that time period. people don't care what happened beforehand. and so right now i don't see an escalation of anything. >> senator, thank you so much. it's always great to talk to you. senator maria chapelle nadal. we're here from michael brown's mother and michael brown's father, michael brown, sr. >> this family has belonged to this community for a long time. we're very proud of this community. it's important that the public know that we want nothing less than law and order tonight. we want tonight to be just like last night as we remember mike brown. and let me say as we move forward i'm sure that the chief

has other things he may put out there. we believe that the most important thing tha is what happened that particular day in the middle of that street as thatster killed mike. let's not lose focus that have. people will create side shows like this to protect their own. it's my distinct pleasure to introduce our coura councilor, anthony gray. >> thank you. i won't be long. i just want to reiterate some of the things that mr. parks just said and recount some of my conversation with the family. let me be clear with everyone here that this family never said that mike brown, jr. was not a perfect kid. his father has described

incidents where he has had to keep his foot on his son's back. and his moment describes having to push her son into the kind of future on the day before he was shot and killed in broad daylight. i don't want it to be brought here that there has never been the misconception that his parents brought about their child. as attorney parks stated, other images or photographs or depictions that don't paint him in the most complimentary light, his parents have pushed him to be the best kid he could be. that is just a major destruction about a 18-year-old child. he probably did 15-year-old stuff. i don't think there is anybody out here at that particular age who is proud of everything they have done from the day they were born to the day they were 18.

i join with him to make sure that they were not distracted. let me transition into why we're here. statewide, countrywide, international interest in this case. when i got the call that this young man allegedly by witnesses had his hands in the air as the universal sign of surrender, it was at this time that bullets were pumped into his body all perked up like a german shepherd. i am sure anyone who hears that, law enforcement officials, law enforcement officers who contacted me who agreed that is a very disturbing video, that we should get to the bottom of that, that includes community wide people who have united the white people, black people, hispanic people, asian people. mike brown jr. could have been a white guy or asian guy. if you have your hands in the air and the police shot at you,

i think all you guys would be assembling right now to find out the information. this is a community wide, nationwide call to understand the incident on that day. i don't want to lose track of it. we're talking about a few minutes to where these witnesses are claiming that mike brown jr. had his hands in the air before the police shot and killed him in broad daylight. what happened in the 18 years before that does not matter. you have all we're looking at--taking this as true, that is the disturbing to everyone. if it is not disturbing to you then you have a public interest or an interest that is different than most people in the public. now, we are here to talk about the latest events that have come out in the media, and the ferguson police chief's decision to release the still pictures and video. the family feels that was strategic. they think it was aimed at den grading their son, it was a character assassination attempt.

that is pretty much the sentiments of everyone discussed. they think the timing of the suspect at a time when the highway patrol was called in where we have a calm going on in the community. we finally reach an appointment where things are settled down. he's now inciting the community all over again. if you get this kind of negative violent reaction to this, it won't be on anybody's part on this side. i want to preface that. we're finally getting to a point where we're starting to galvanize the question that everybody was securous about, and now we'll focus on the side show. that is really unfair to this family. even in spice of that i have been asked to make a plea to those who are under the sound of my voice. do not take the bait from anybody that is trying to character assassinate mike. do not take that and react negatively to people in the public. don't take that and begin to riot. don't take that and begin to

loot. this family is not for that. they have made that plain and clear. i just want to deliver that to everybody here and make sure that i convey that message to you. now it's my distinct honor to deliver to you erik davis, the cousin of leslie, when she was looking at the events earlier, mr. davis actually could not get away to attend some of the other press conferences because she was clinging to him like velcro. you're about to hear from the person that is probably the most closest to leslie in this whole case. you're going to hear from him, and you're actually listening to leslie as well. i'll turn it over to him. >> first of all, i want to thank you all for being here and supporting the family in their efforts to seek justice for michael brown, which we're trying to do today. earlier the chief released video

that we think was basically smoking mirrors to try to divert the attention away from what really occurred. the events that took place on canfield that had nothing to do with whatever grocery story michael might have been in or the person on the video may have been in because we don't know if that's michael for sure. whatever took place there a had nothing to do with an individual getting down on his hands and knees, raising his hands in the air and saying don't shoot. this is an universal call for i surrender. i can hear my cousin's voice right now saying don't shoot. yet still the officers shot him is what we're hearing from the officer. that is wrong. we want the truth to come out, and we're asking the community to police consider us, police support us, stay with us, but do not get distracted. we don't want to see violence in the street.

please continue to peacefully protest. we thank you for your support. >> the last thing we'll say before we take questions. at 3:00 p.m. on sunday the family will be at a rally at the jefferson memorial at 3:00 p.m. the we're asking the public to come out in strong support. please com conduct yourself accordingly. >> is that picture him? >> i think if you take a look at the video you get a better picture. you have to think about why the chief decided to release those pictures. the pictures are worse than the video. why would he strategically put this community and the world through a whole day of those videos. you have to ask yourself that question. we believe he strategically did that to assassinate the character of michael brown. s other questions?

>> is that him? >> i answered that question already, i didn't know him, but it appears to be him. >> what was he doing? do they know anything about the day before this happened? >> well, he was with friends in the area is what i've been told. any other questions? >> inaudibl [ inaudible question ] >> we'll asked for an autopsy. we've asked the department of justice to do their own autopsy in this case as well. that will be their decision. so again after that take placing the family has asked to honor and remember michael in their own way. they'll do that after the federal department of justice is done with whatever they choose to do. >> did the family know? >> did they know this was

coming? was there any heads up? >> that's a good question. as we talk with michael's mother today, and she saw what had happened, what the chief had done, right, she was very distraught about that. as we talk with her she said why would he do that? why after the great night last night. she thought it was very important before tonight that everyone here know that she is okay with where the investigation is, and she wanted people to remain calm. that's very important. that's why she looked to this man and significant others to say you know what, this is her significant other, she said, i want you all to go down there. and it's important that team know that we want them to stay calm. that justice is moving now in the right direction. she wanted that. we really didn't want to do this, but we thought it was very important that we shouldn't put people in harm's way like we

believe others have done by being very careless in how they have conducted themselves in official capacities. >> did they hear the name of the officer, the brown family. >> the name of the officer? no, no. >> we'll talk about that later. we're not answering any questions about the autopsy. we will later. >> i think they should care like i said before when you have witness accounts that a sworn officer to up hold the law has

shot someone who has their hands up in an universal sign of surrender, it's so disturbing it shakes around the globe. you have some of the most hardened criminals in jail right now that when they gave this sign they were taken into custody. i think of saddam hussein. i think of charles manson, when they did this, they did a lot more than taking cigarettes from a 7-eleven. they did far worse crimes than that. when they did this, they were taken into custody. all we're saying when a person does this as described, and then he's shot and killed immediately after doing that, that is not just a community's concern. that is not a st. louis thing. that is a nationwide problem and interest. the world is just curious, why did you do that? why did you do that?

of all the things for the chief to talk about and to release, could he have at least released information on the justification on why this officer would shoot a person in broad daylight? could he have not divulged to the public, he has facts and information that he could release that we're interested in. yet he chose to talk about something to darken up this man's past as opposed to bringing up the thing that would brighton up his future. >> he said he released the video because the media was asking for it. >> common sense will tell you that it was strategic. there is no explanation to be given other than that at the time when the name was the issue he made a decision to release it then. we're going to take just a few more last questions. three last questions. yes? are you media, sir?

only media at this time. >> have you seen the results of autopsy? >> i have not. >> and what has it told you th , how many shots fired. >> we will not talk about the autopsy. there will an time for that. two more questions. >> you say strategy. >> well, i think character assassination. all these things about michael brown, whatever happened in that store had nothing to do with that in terms of the officer's mindset and his decision to shoot mike and to kill him. thing other than that, any portrayal of him is to be a side show and it's a diversion of the conduct of the officer at that time. we have to focus on the conduct of the officer at that time. that's all we have. thank you for coming. it was important to this family

that the world know that we must remain peaceful. we've lost mike. they're mourning. let me state, this is very hard for his mother and father. i can't tell you how hard, how distraught, just overwhelming an experience can be to a person they're going through right now. i would hope that you would understand that they don't have the courage to walk out here. we hope to see you at 3:00 at the jefferson memorial on sunday. the family will do their best to make it there. thank you very much for coming. >> so, there you have it. we went in this with a different expectation. we thought we would hear from the parents of michael brown. we thought we would hear from leslie and michael brown sr. that was not the case. we thought we would hear from benjamin crump, the lawyer

representing the family we heard from two different representatives for the family. they spoke, and what is clear in all of this is there is clear outrage on the part of the family of michael brown. they feel the release of this video. we'll show you some of this video that shows michael brown in a convenience show just literally minutes before he was shot and killed by an officer with the ferguson police department. the release of this video, and also in tandem with the release of the officer's name was calculated, and the idea here was to focus more attention on the robbery and what the representatives call the character assassination of michael brown than on the actions, the alleged actions of the police officer which, as you know, is that the officer shot

down michael brown in cold blood as his hands were over his head, and what you heard from the attorney is the universal sign of surrender. mr. there is much more to follow on this story, and we'll continue to cover it for you from ferguson, missouri. i'm tony harris from new york. that is all the time for this news hour. "inside story" is next on al jazeera america. @j

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[♪ music ] >> maybe you've already been feeling that way, but now you've got data, a pew research report finds liberals and conservatives are moving further apart leaving less room in the middle for popular opinion or compromise. it's the "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray