>> that's a huge motivating force. >> keeps me very much energized and motivated in this work. >> ken, a pleasure. >> thank you. ♪ good afternoon to you. welcome to "al jazeera america" life from new york city. i am morguead radford. these are the stories we are following just for you. tear gas and looting in the streets of ferguson, missouri, plus dozens more iraqis murdered by at a time group known as the islamic state and 124 korean martyrs beatfied by the pope during an open air mass in seoul. ♪

at almost this exact time last week, 18-year-old michael brown was killed in ferguson, missouri. since then, st. louis county police were brought in. the president spoke and some journalists covering the event found themselves directly in the crossfire. last night, riotness faced off with looters. ashar cuellar eshi and his camera crew were there? >> protest orders were standing offer with armored police vehicles, backed up these protesters. a large number of them came through and started breaking into the beauty shops. they were running out with armfuls of supplies. some people went over here to this liquor store and tried to break in there. some people started going in. another group of people tried to keep them from doing that. >> we are here protecting our community, the store,

everything, to let everyone know that everyone here is not criminals. everyone out here came to protest. these people came in, tried to loot the stores and blocked them off. don't do that. >> that's not what this is about. this is a civil rights movement. my name is antoine smith. i came out here to stand up for my rights. >> police have slowly advanced and continued to give verbal commands telling people to disperse, saying disperse, we don't want people to get hurt? >> glass bottles were thrown. they maced the crowd and quickly left. they came back and i think they were pointing guns at the crowd. >> that's when the looting started. >> we are also seeing a police helicopter above that's coming around and circling the area, continued to drop a spotlight on the crowds, but so far, no firing yet. >> earlier, i spoke to al jazeera producer david douglas there in ferguson. he told me how the crew saws

some protesters taunting police. >> we started hearing chants "we're ready. we're ready" almost like come and get us, police. come and get us police. the police were using announcements over the loud speaker to say, please, don't want to arrest anyone. we don't want anyone to get hurt. please disperse and some members of the crowd, some of the other protestors would come and say, this is not what we are here for. please clear out. they ultimately convinced that crowd to clear out, and i think that very small number of people who were here who might have been looking to stir something up compared to the totality of people, those people went looking for something to do. the next thing you know, as you might be seeing in some of the pictures we have, we are seeing this beauty supply shop being broken into and people coming out with arm loads of hair extensions and other products. our cameraman was hit in the face at one point in this. and some of the looters were very upset that we were taking their picture, saying, you are going to get us put in jail.

not seeming to make the connection that the looting was actually the crime. >> all right. but after all of that, there was a calmer scene there this morning where rain kept most people indoors and some cleaners tried to tidy up after last night's looting. diane esterbrook is there. good afternoon to you. have things mostly calmed down since last night? >> yes. morgan. things have calmed down from last night. right now, the f.b.i. is canvassing the neighborhood where michael brown was shot last week, looking for witnesses. now,ed we had a crew in the neighborhood and they counted about a dozen agents. now, the f.b.i. has already talked to some witnesses in the last week. they are actually now hoping to find others. mean while, there is still some frustration with local law enforcement the way they handled the looting last night. we talked to one store owner who said vandals came in, they smashed his windows. they smashed his door. they walked off with about a thousand dollars worth of cell

phones and laptops and this is what he found when he walked in this morning at about 5:30: >> people outside, the nice people were outside trying to help, thank god. but people were still walking around. my store is wide open. everything is out. so in that sense, it was a bit disappointing. >> now, missouri state patrol captainron rob johnson heading up security for this area is going to be holding a press conference this afternoon at about 2:00 o'clock central time with the governor to talk about what happened last night and address the press's questions about what went down. morgan? >> do i diane what's interesting is that there has been a lot of attention to the city's relationship to the police department. many say the police were not there last night when all of this looting was happening. so, how does the community feel about that? and what's been the police department's response? >> well, we haven't yet heard from the police department. >> that's what, you know, we have some questions to ask them about that this afternoon at the

press conference. what these residents are looking for is some sort of a balance. there was the criticism earlier in the week that the police were being too heavy handed, lobbing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets and we saw the looting. they said there were some protesters that were unfairly targeted. last night, over the last couple of days, the police pulled back and that is when captain johnson took over. he tried to be a little bit more measured with the protesters and letting them come out and protest peacefully. he has pulled back. we heard from some of the businesses here and some of the people who were out last night. they think that the police should have had a more active role in controlling the looting, and that's what they are concerned about. they want a balance. they don't want police to be so heavy-happened but they want protection. >> diane esterbrook joining us live in ferguson, missouri. thank for being with us this afternoon. >> we need to make sure everybody can walk these streets. we need to make sure that i

don't have fear if i can walk the streets. >> that's captain ron johnson of the missouri highway patrol diane mentioned. he was chosen by the state's governor to help keep the calm on ferguson streets. he is a native of ferguson and said the violence in his hometown is just all too personal. america tonight's lower jane gleehaw has the story. >> reporter: as a captain in the missouri state police, ron johnson has wasted no time also getting to know the people in the small city of ferguson. friday morning, he marched alongside frustrated residents soon after the ferguson police department officially released the name of the officer who pulled the trigger in the deadly shooting of michael brown. >> in that way, we can answer questions. >> as the lead law enforcement officer tasked with keeping the peace, he says listening is important. >> i think we are listening. if we weren't listening before, we are listening now. >> it's participated of his

strategy. so is communication, and so far, it's working. >> this affects all of us because after everybody's gone, after all of the cameras are gone, this community is going to be here. i am going to be here. my family is going to be here. >> johnson even communicated his own feelings about the officer involved in brown's death. >> i am sure there is a lot on his mind. and just know that the people out here just want answers and whatever those answers need to be, and i just ask everybody involved. we need to be up front and honest. i know he is going through some tough times. i know the brown family is going through some tough times. we will make it through it. >> reporter: beyond his own opinions, johnson knows the only way the community will heal is to keep the dialogue going and to hear the opinions of others. at this press conference, he took questions from more than just the press. he invited the community to come in close and ask questions. >> the people of our community need to hear what i am saying.

they've got questions and i invited them here. this isn't about ron johnson. in the isn't about the highway patrol. this isn't about st. louis county. it is about the people who live in our community. >> the captain is busy meeting with everyone who wants a chance to speak to him. >> we are going to do the same thing we did last night. >> all right. i wasn't here last night. >> developing strategies for the short-term but looking ahead for a better future in ferguson. >> what is the long-term goal for ferguson in your eyes? >> the long-term goal is that we come out stronger than we were when this started. the long-term goal is that the wounds and the issues that we are hearing in the crowd, we don't hear them anymore. the long-term goal is that we need to make sure that our community believes that we are reflective 69 community, reflective of the needs of this community. >> this morning, i spoke to leo mcguire a former sheriff and i asked him just what the next step is for darren wilson. >> that's the officer who shot

michael brown. all right. well, just to be clear. >> from a political standpoint, it's going to get indicted. it's going to stand trial. it's going to happen. and regardless of the merits or not, just politically, it will. but the process is this. they are gathering evidence to identify what happened in

>> michael brown's death is sparking a debate. watchdogs say it's not the color of the police officers but the racially skewed policies they are compelled to enforce. shia avatanzi explains. >> 3 of the 53 police officers are black. the killing of black teenager has again raised questions about institutional racenism u.s. law enforcement. those who monitor the police say

the racial make-up of police departments is not the fundamental problem. it's the policies they enforce. in new york city, a majority ofples on the beat are black, latino or asian but it's still minorities who are overwhelmingly targeted. >> here in mainly black bedford, new york, police issued 8,200 tickets for riding a bike on the sidewalk which in 2008, compared to 32 issued in nearby white park slope. >> watchdog groups argue the main problem isn't police diversity. >> diversity will probably help with better policing but won't make a significant difference. in new york city, for example, whether it's a white cop or a cop of color, that officer has to get with the program and that program in new york city is to focus on low-income communities of color and petty infraction. it results in harassment and unnecessary punishments. >> 86% of those arrested in new york for miss demeanors in the

first six months of this year were black. activists allege police officers view minorities as the easiest way to meet arrest quotas. communities view the police as unpredictable, armed occupiers. >> 30%, close to that population. >> even the executive director of the organization representing the black officers in the u.s. seemed resigned. >> i would hope that african-american or latino officers or someone would have a little more understanding but let's be honest. the environment you are in, that is impossible. >> critics argue there is no room for communal mutual trust under a leadership that insists on adversarial mil tarized police can. until that changes, they argue, they will continue to shoot and the unarmed will continue to die. al jazeera, new york. coming up on al jazeera, dozens of iraqis in a small town murdered by the group known as theition lammic state. now, a new round of american ache strikes and a new promise

from washington. we will have people in south korea gather to listen to pope francis. don't go anywhere.

texas governor rick perry vowing to fight a felon indictment that was handed down friday by a state grand jury. he is accused of abusing the power of his office to force the resignation of democratic official who had been convicted of a dui. now, a special prosecute says he is ready to move forward on that case. >> the grand jerne has spoken that at least there is probable cause to believe that he committed two crimes, two felon crimes, for count one, it's a 5 to 99 years in prison and for count 2, it's two to 10 years in

prison. i looked at the law. i looked at the facts, and i presented everything possible to the grand jury. >> all right. stay in your seats because at 3:00 p.m. eastern tune in to al jazeera when perry will deliver a statement from the from the state capitol in austin, texas. in iraq, hundreds of yazidis are returning to the plates they fled days', looking for loved once they were forced to leave behind when they fled from its lammic statefieders. they fear kuhelp from kurdish forces may not safe their loved ones from starvation. the u.s. is trying to push back islamic state fighters with another round of airstrikes. they stormed a village in northern iraq killing and capturing dozens of residents. but yazidis are not the only minority being targeted. christians in iraq have also faced persecution and now, thousands are fleeing to

lebanon. >> desperate iraqi christians line up on a hot august day to receive food rations. the church is organizing this food distribution to those 2 fled violence in their country years ago and those who arrived, like maria butros arrived. >> we were scared. >> they all tell of the same story. johnny has been here for just over a month and living off chairty. a christian lebanese family paid his rent for this small apartment where he lives with his wife and three girls. >> they threatened us with our children, our muslim neighbors said, you better run before they come and kill you. >> johnny said he was scared and left everything he owns behind. >> they uprooted us from our own land, his wife says, referring

to the armed group, the islamic state that forced them out of iraq. >> these are not muslims. we don't know where they came from. they have no religown. we lived with muslims for over 40 years. this group have nothing to do with islam. >> this assyrian priest has been organizing a campaign to help the iraqi christians who managed to get to lebanon. he says he is frustrated. >> what's happening in mosul is that the original people are being uprooted from their land. choose whuft as worrying is the international community's silence, so far, very shy voices. we are demanding pressure from europe to stop the mats kerrs. >> this family came from near mos mosul. now under islamic state's full control. this one-room apartment became home for this family of six after they ran away from their town. he says there is no more room

for christians to live in iraq. we never managed anything like this would happen nobody expected this. >> it was like a horror movie, he tells me. everyone was horrified. his children cry every day we would security for our children. >> so his girls spend the day lying on this bed waiting for something to change. al jazeera, beirut. >> joining us on the phone is retired brigadier mike kimmet in baghdad right now. thank you for joining us this afternoon. first off, do you thing these u.s. air strikes have actually been affected so far? >> to a limited extent. they certainly have had some

effect in bringing them in the mountain but in terms of making it appreciable effect on isil, i don't think they have done anything close to doing that. >> there has been recent talk of this mission meaning the risk of this operation would be ballooning out of control and drawing in western countries into a long conflict even as president obama said there will be no boots on the ground. i think they have to decide take a look at national interests and recognize the threat from syria to the region, frankly. >> what if it simple isn't enough to stop the islamic state from taking en more towns in iraq and over in kurdistan the administration could reverse course and peat boots on the

ground? i think the boots on the ground is somewhat of an electrical effect every time someone mentions it. there is a lot we can do before we have to reintroduce american troops into iraq. we can provide more training, more international resources, thely security forces and to the kurdish forces as well. there was a plan in 2011 that is part of the status of forces agreement where we would leave a residual force back in iraq to help advice, train and provide counter terrorism support. one could wonder had that force been allowed in. >> do you think it was a mistake no to have them? >> absolutely.

>> maintaining the materials. those are the

>> stay tuned. coming up next on al jazeera, it may seem strange. buildings like this one are popping up. we will tell you why these oddly shaped structures are becoming so popular. plus, the holy grail of comics. wait until you see what it's going for.

♪ good afternoon to you.

welcome back to "al jazeera america" live in new york city. i am morgan radford. these are today's top stories. facing off with looters in ferguson missouri. people broke into store stealing liquor and of all things, hair extensions. protesters maintained a non-violent stanchion. f.b.i. agents are canvassing where mike brown was fatally shod. there may be evidence that shed more evidence on what happened. at 2:00 o'clock cement tral time, the muds your e will deliver a statement to you when it happens. >> voters lined up at the polls. two precincts on the big island from voting this week. the state's senate primary between u.s. representative clean hanabusa and senator brian

schwarz, the frontrunner is quite tight. over in oklahoma, it's tornado season which means protection is top of the agenda. this study round dome is made of concrete and could be the wave of the future when it comes to severe weather protection in oklahoma. 11 structures have become built in cities and eight rural school districts have built domes. builders say they are energy efficient and the smooth curbs defect deadly winds. detractors say initial expenses and community ordinances may deter more building. as of right now, there is yet another storm happening right there near hawaii. so meteorologist eboni dion is here. what can they expect? >> not much from this one. so that is the good news. you know, the pacific has been quite busy while the atlantic has remained fairly quiet. things are starting to get a little more interesting but as we take a look, this is tropical storm carina off to the west, but as of now, it doesn't look like it's going to nearly make its way crease to hawaii. in fact, the current track keeps it well out over the pacific and

it will have no impacts on land. so, it's expected to remain on the weak side. now, as we take a look across the water of the atlantic, we are monitoring two tropical wave earlier this morning, it looked a little more impressive but now the national hurricane center brought the possibilities for formation from this invest 95 l down to 2%. it doesn't look we will see much activity. closer to home, we are watching out for symptoms across the midwest and across the northern plainsr plains and into florida, we got off to a quiet start. now those storms, we have lightning and as this west coast seabreeze continues to move inland, it's putting in heavy down pours. as it makes its way toward the east coast, we are expecting stronger storms, wind gusts up to 40 to 50 miles per hour and maybe the possibility of water stopping. bell gem where a waterspout was found right at the beach. it came ashore. once it did, it created quite a bit of a stir and, also, it

damaged some lawn chairs or at least some beach chairs and, also, a terrace. fortunately on, it didn't last long. water spouts usually don't. things are a little bit quieter there. >> that's something they are used to seeing, back at home, storms that are moving across missouri continue to push into illinois. and this storm system will be a slow mover. so that is why we have flooding concerns here for the northern portion of the state. also, flooding across north dakota as well where the storm system here across the midwest will slowly make its way into the ohio valley toward the end of the weekend. morgan back to you? >> thanks so much, ebb on e. it can cost you quite a bit, an appearance of superman is up for auction on ebay for over $1.6 million. but it's possible that it could now go as high as $3,000,000. at a time the only one in

existence. a record.1 on the sunday august 24th. thanks so much for watching "al jazeera america" live from new york city. i am morgan radford. don't go anywhere because street food niarobi is coming up next. have a great day. >> nairobi is my city, well perhaps not exactly. i was born here and so were my parents, but i spent most of my