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tv   America Tonight  Al Jazeera  August 19, 2014 9:00pm-10:01pm EDT

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>> more nights of fury met with force. >> there is a small number of violentage stat violent agitators in the crowd. >> they were itching for a reason to be ready. we were that reason. >> another hot day with another fatal shooting. will it explode in more violence, and how can ferguson
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resident find any new normal. >> live from the streets of the st. louis suburb and america tonight special report, flash point, ferguson. and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. with this special edition "flash point ferguson." we've been coming to you live over the last two nights watching the develops. where we're at this hour is at the command center as they try to prevent a repeat of the night before and so many of these nights since the death of the unarmed 18-year-old michael brown ten days ago. we saw in the last 24 hours a great deal of consternation as there were yet new clashes as law enforcement came through and tried to prevent protesters who had been protesting in the
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street. so many people in the country have seen over the last week and a half the demonstrations taking place there broke down with new clashes with law enforcement, there were molotov cocktails being thrown and other bottles and law enforcement trying to prevent any more violence from taking place. they've been greetly concerned of the developments of this day with the death nearby, a 23-year-old who they say was brandishing a knife, and dared the police to kill him. there are growing calls this hour as well, that the local prosecutor recuse himself over comments he has made that suggest he might compromise the
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case. a third autopsy has now been conducted on the body of michael brown, and his family has scheduled a former funeral next monday. it is expected that national leaders will attend that as well. there's also great deal of tension being made to the 31 people who were arrested in the latest developments of last night's clashes and their details now on what happened and why there are new fears of more violence tonight. word came of another fatal police shooting not far from the site where michael brown was shot and killed. the st. louis police said that is black man was brandishing a knife saying kill me now. they were called because the 23-year-old man had allegedly stolen from a convenience store. >> we have a suspect who was involved in a theft. the department was contacted, acting erratically armed with a
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knife. the police officers responded. when they responded the suspect did not respond to verbal commands to drop his weapon. he approached both officers, when he approached in what is called an overhand grip, the officers fired. a change of atmosphere late at night and local residents would go home leaving the streets to a small group of dedicated demonstrators. police would force people to keep going. when they stopped marching they would face officers in riot gear. at a press conference before dawn, captain ron johnson appealed to protesters to keep their demonstrations to the daylight hours. he praised his officers for holding fire despite having
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bottles and hole to have cocktails being thrown at them. >> once again not a single pull let was fired by officers despite coming under heavy attack. >> reporter: response was placed on the mistreatment of protesters. >> they're treating us like we're nobody. we're out there supporting the cause, and i just don't understand. >> reporter: there have been growing criticisms of the response, protesters and the press complaining of receiving conflicting and confusing orders from officers. >> i don't think they all have the same understanding of what to do. like, we were all told we were allowed to be out there to protest. then we have others out there telling us we're not allowed to be there. some tell us if we stay on the sidewalk that's okay. others, you need to leave before
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we arrest you all. >> reporter: as you see there were many opportunities for the flareups to occur and a great deal of pressure put on captain johnson, where he is now explaining the action of law enforcement. we caught some of that action on my cell phone as he faced off with some of the people in the community who were very angry. >> there are those who contributed to the crime, and that is police officers. you have reasonable, patient people with the lights on. at night they bring out these guys who are aggressive. >> no, no, no. last night i stood there. i saw people protesting, and they were. but i'm telling you guys were coming over that hill. there were gunshots and i'm not
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making it up. >> ing in happened over the hill. it was right here. >> those officers are protecting lives. >> they're not protecting lives. >> can i please say something? >> he running, when he stop you, he run. >> captain johnson taking on the very tough questions, many angry questions from citizen notice community. we're asking why law enforcement had to take such a heavy hand. joining us now is mr. reed, president of the st. louis board of alderman, i take that to be a council, local council. >> yes. >> if you could help us understand some of the clashes occurring here and what people have described as a leadership vacuum.
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we've heard from cab ta captain , but has enough leadership been taken on. >> although i'm the president of the alderman in the city of st. louis, this is the city of ferguson that we're in. we've been reaching out and have not got the response we would like to see, but they are managing other things also. it's a small city, but this is one of the biggest things this city in this region has ever seen. so they're busy managing their constituent issues and everything else, and the business-- >> shouldn't they be managing their message, stepping up and explaining what it is that the city is doing and what the county police have been doing? >> yes, they should. part of the challenge is working with captain johnson coming in, and the local law enforcement not really turning everything
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completely to him. i think its important that they step back, and turn it over completely to him and follow his lead all the way. >> but there has been controversy about that because the local prosecutor had said that he was opposed to the governor making the move putting captain johnson in this position, indicating there is division among the law enforcement, who should they be respond to go? >> obviously there is division, they should be responding to captain johnson. he was able to bond with the protesters, meet with them, and march with them. >> even be challenged with them. >> even be challenged by them, he accepted the challenge and talked to them. it's that kind of thing that would lower the temperature of this thing, and get people to respond. >> you know, mr. reed, this always occurs when you have multiple jurisdictions of law enforcement stepping in to play. everyone wants to know who the lead is, and everyone, frankly,
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wants to be the lead. now that this situation has occurred, where the governor has placed the captain in charge, aren't you really going to be left with nobody is going to be satisfied with the answer here? >> well, nobody may be satisfied with the answer, but at the end of the day it would be the governor. the governor appointed captain johnson and local law enforcement needs to power that lead plain and simple. i think that was the best appointment. he has the experience and background to begin to address the issues that we see here today. this is a complex thing. this is not easy to address. but as we follow captain johnson's reed lead, and we'll follow him. >> the questions continue to ride about the heavy law enforcement a very firm hand as we see each of these nights. we wanted to get the approach and division of a man who could
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certainly understand crowd control and law enforcement in those very difficult situations. america tonight's sheila mcv mcvicker joins us on that. >> reporter: that's right, they have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the large crowds. thanks so much for joining us, mr. carick, what is your impression of how effective the policing tactics used in ferguson have been? >> i watched a lot of coverage last night, and i think they did a little better last night than they have over the last few days, especially on day one. you know, i'm not one of the commanders on the scene, and i can't see everything based on what i'm watching on the television screen, but from what i saw i don't think that they did too bad of a job last night. >> there's been criticism of the
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ferguson force and the highway patrol after they moved in to take control of the streets. the response has been an overly militarized with deploying personnel carriers, heavy weap weaponry or threatening people with heavy weaponry. this has antagonized the crowd. >> i've been vocal on this. i do not agree with what i saw on day one. you had what appeared to be several unarmed protesters. standing around with their hands up, and you had police officers from what department i don't know, but they were armed with assault weapons trained down on these people that were unarmed and really doing nothing, but protesting peacefully. now what i saw last night i saw some shotguns. i saw some tear gas launchers. i saw some things like that.
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i personally didn't see any--any of the m-4s or the ar-15s or m-15s like i saw on night one, not saying that they're not out there. in all honesty they can be out there. they shunt be on the set because what we saw last night those officers had riot control gear, riot batons, shields, protective shields, gas masks, in the event they have to throw gas, those are the primary things that they should have in their possession for the things we saw last night in the last few nights. >> beyond the weaponry and the equipment that they are deploying the other piece of this seems to be the relationship with the community. i would have thought, and i would like to know what you think about this, there should be more of a dialogue taking place between people in the community, community leaders, business people, others, even those who are protesting, and
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the police in order to find a way forward. >> well, first of all, community relations between the police department and the community has to start long before an incident. i don't know what it was like, but i don't see a lot of that possibly have taken place. that's number one. number two, the one thing that i think is lacking and has been a complete mess is the communications with the community and the communications with the general public from the leadership perspective from the city and the state government. i've only seen the governor out once. to my knowledge, in watching all the coverage. they should be holding daily press conferences. they should be talking to the community. they should be talking to the press, and they should be talking to the general public in an attempt to let them know what's going on. let them know the new rules.
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let them know how they can better--what's happening. there's been none of that, and i find that--i think that's extremely problematic. >> former commissioner bernard carrick, thank you. >> thanks. >> let's go back to joie chen. >> thank you very much from the watch studio. here at the command center we're getting reports from the county police and highway patrol. they disclosed new numbers on an arrest that has taken place, a signal of what police are doing to keep things under control. between yet morning and this morning, from the 18th of august to the 19th of august there were 52 arrests.
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this number has fluctuated, but this is the official number given by police. 27% of the people arrested, 27% of the 52 people were not from missouri, and the vast majority, more than 90% are not from ferguson. a point they've been trying to make here. joining us from al jazeera is tony harris. following the events during the day and we're looking forward to tomorrow, a very big day with the attorney general coming in. >> moving this story ahead the tensions are high, we understand that, but the attorney general is coming to the small town of ferguson, 21,000 people. he'll be overseeing the work of his teams on the ground here. we've been hearing this investigation has been proceeding on two tracks, right. there is the work being done by the st. louis county police department, the ferguson police department, and also on a straight track the work being
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done by the justice department. so the attorney general comes here tomorrow, ironically, on the very day that the state prosecutor begins to present evidence to the grand jury here on this case. what everyone will be watching is will there be a camaraderie of spirit, will there be a sharing of information. the fbi and the justice department have been on the ground for a week and they've conducted 200 interviews here in this community. the idea that they have been a silo of information, that's going to be important and something that we'll be watching. >> i would note here and we see in the picture, erik holder, attorney general, seen in mean ways as a representative of the president. who came back from the martha vineyard vacation to get a briefing. >> i think that's important. the president in those comments, he was asked directly whether or not he would come to ferguson
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himself. he said no, i'm going to send the attorney general. i'm not going made at this point in time because i don't want to appear to be putting my thumb on the scale here, and i want this process to play out as he asks for a higher standard from the police in terms of their response to this, and their administrators in terms of their conduct, demonstrations and protests. he's sending a representative. other interesting point is whether or not there will be availability with the attorney general tomorrow. i would any that there would be, but that's something else we'll be watching for. >> certainly will be. as we go to break we'll look ahead to the next segment of our program 37 we'll talk about what do people say to the children, and how the children are standing by and preparing fo for--you know their first day of school has been canceled already a couple of times, and they're not sure what they're going to be doing next. also looking on the scene of command center law enforcement
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is getting ready for another night, and hoping against hom hope for possibilities that there will be no clashes here. you can see the decontamination showers being put up here in case there are any clashes that involved any sort of toxic chemicals or any reason for concern for law enforcement or citizens decontamination showers being put 2007 here database being put up here at the command center we'll have more of our special coverage right after this.
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>> with all that has been said about michael brown's death, not a lot has been side about his life. this would have been the first week of his college. we want to get a better perspective of who michael brown was and what he would have brought to the community. let'let's go to more conversation about michael brown's life. let's go to a woman who knew him well. you were his teacher and knew him all the way through has graduation just a few weeks ago. >> yes. >> what kind of young man was he? >> i was his art teacher kindergarten through grade five, and as an elementary student he was very quiet, just kept to
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himself. >> he grew up to be a very big man. >> he loved music. as a treat in my classroom i would play my son's beat. if the kids were quiet they could listen. michael was that student who would always say be quiet so we can hear the beats. and i would play the beats. my last experience with michael was the day of his graduation. i had not seen him since fifth grade, and i saw this big kid walking up towards the summer school graduation, and he said, you don't remember me? i said, who are you? he said, i'm michael brown? i said, oh my god, you're so big. i give him a big hug, and i said, why are you here? he said, i finished my courses but i didn't get an opportunity to walk across the stage in my
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wal cap and gown. we rushed. one student didn't show up, so michael was able to get in a cap and gown. it was kind of small, but we got it on him. afterwards i was helping with refreshments, and michael came over to the table, you know, so happy just to see me, me to see him, and he said, well, i do beats. i want to be a rapper. i said, wow. he said, does your son still do beats? he said yes. he said, do you think he'll work with me? i said, sure. >> that's a lifelong link. he was headed to college. this would have been his first week in college. >> yes. >> he was studying music. he planned to study music, and he really had ambitions. >> yes. >> the rapper nelly was a local st. louis guy himself had been a big influence. he thought that would be the case at college, too.
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>> yes. just the fact that he wanted to walk across the stage for completion, that was really admirable about him. and it says a lot about what he wanted to do with his future. he knew what he wanted to do. i think that's really awesome. >> athelia troop talking to us and giving us insight into michael brown. >> thank you. >> this is a time when young people have become so important when trying to understand what is going on in the treats of ferguson and, indeed, all of north county of st. louis. these young people come forward with questions of their own, their ability even to go to school. as we said the first day of school has been delayed several times. and young people are asking questions about that. america tonight spoke to
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families about what's going on and what they are telling their kids. >> at jessica williams house mom has more help than usual unloading the groceries. school is closed because of the unrest in ferguson. that meant he stayed home and help his baby sister on suspects. >> i help my baby sister with the abcs and 123s. >> in ferguson administrators shut down schools. >> there is a whole lot of stuff going on, like i said, during the day for kids not to be in school. that's unacceptable to me. >> with no school they were able to stay up later. they spent several nights getting involved. >> i saw al sharpton.
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i heard martin, i heard almost everything that could go on in the world. >> how do you decide to take your kids to the protest? >> i just wanted them to see how it really is, just because it was on tv it wasn't fake. i wanted them to see this is really happening, st. louis, we're making history right now. i wanted my kids to know that this is real. we need to stand for justice for everyone. >> walter said he's learning a lot after dark but he's anxious to go back to class. >> i miss science and math, and i miss my friends. >> some of the people that we see are people who live in the community who just joined in today. >> reporter: superintendent tiffany anderson brought her staff to help clean up after the protests. she's preparing them to welcome students back to campus knowing that there will likely be many questions about what has happened here. >> i any it's really important
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to have many different avenues to talk with kids. it's not just the teacher. it's the counselor and social worker, the custodian. we're showing kids we're a live line. >> do you have a plan for teachers to bring this in the lesson land? how are you bringing this up in the classroom? >> we do those lessons all the time. you should not be talking about race, violence and equity because of an event. that's a reactive way of proceeding. we're pro active. you should be looking at bias, equity, racism, all the isms, we don't shy away. >> in ferguson teachers like jennifer stevens will welcome kids back next week. >> we need to establish our routines and normalcy, but i certainly think we will be setting aside time to talk about this. and you know, they'll bring it up.
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i'll bring it up. we'll read about it, write about it, and we'll discuss. >> i feel that it should an topic or discussion to where they talk to the kids and stuff like that about what's going on, you know, how do they feel about the situation. behind this a lot of kids might need counseling or something. it's hard to adapt to the situation. any situation. then when something like this is happening in our own city these kids are scared. >> she said she wants her children to be learning constantly. after the few days she wants her town to learn a few lessons, too. >> what do you hope for this community? >> i hope for a changed period all around, within the community, the police department, people, people coming together as one, and stop killing each other, too. >> we're joined back at the command center. you may hear the helicopter overhead as law enforcement here at the command center gets ready for another night hoping there
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is not another protest. talk more about the children here, though, laura, a lot of folks in this community have school lunches for their children, and not going to school could be a real problem. >> yes, there is a teacher out of state that has started a crowd funding campaign to feed ferguson. she would help the food bank to help diffe deliver food for people. pom there are lunches, not just lunches but there will be training for staff to notice signals of distress and help them ramping up. >> are the kids feeling--there is some opportunity to see that it's a summer vacation
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extension, but they seem eagle for get back. >> the kids i talked to today, they like their friends. they like what they're learning. they like to be educated and have that opportunity. it's a stable environment for many people. it's a sense ever normalcy going back to school, going back to classes. yeah, i think a lot of kids want to get back to class and be there with their teachers. >> and resolve a lot of questions about what has been happening all around them. america tonight, thank you pretty much we'll continue our special coverage on flash point ferguson after our break. we'll also get a look at the headlines of the day. that's coming up next with sheila mcvikar.
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>> welcome back to american tonight of special coverage of flash point ferguson. we're at the command center where they're hoping against hope that there will be no further trouble tonight, but they are concerned that that may be the case. there is a reason for that. there has been an additional flash point. a shooting earlier this day in st. louis. this is nearby. we're in st. louis county. this took place in st. louis city where there was a police-involved shooting. the police received a call about
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a disturbance, and when they arrived found a suspect armed with a knife. they say he was behaving erratically. he was warned several times to drop his weapon but he ignored those warnings and they say he advanced on officers. >> he approached both officers. when he was three or four feet of the night in what is vibed as an over hand grip, the officers fired their weapons. the chief there in st. louis city. following up now at this hour there has been, of course, a great deal of concern about the demonstrators. this demonstration is taking place about half a mile from here. a little bit over that. we're at the command center, and down on the street as you see there have been lining up of the state trooper and other county police lining up to prepare for the possibility. there is concern about what may happen tonight. joining us tonight is rob
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reynolds who is watching the events of this evening unfold. are there more demonstrations taking place right now, rob? >> well, joie, the education is quite calm right now. a few more people have come out on the streets as darkness has fallen, but it is a fairly mall crowd in comparison with previous nights. just a moment ago some helmeted police officers with their plastic tie clips that they use as handcuffs in their belts passes by, and there is quite a large police presence here, but the crowd appears to be calm. no one really seems to be talking about that second incident in st. louis. people here really are focused on the case of michael grown brown, and at least those i have spoken with, have not brought up an additional shooting as another flash point or
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grievance. >> rob, are you seeing some of the folks that we saw last night, people who are moving through in a steady stream during their marchs back and forth. there were different groups then. do you see that tonight? >> i see some of the same people and some of the same community organizers. there is a lay pastor going around with a bullhorn. he has been here every night we've been here trying to prevent any confrontation between the police and the demonstrators who are for the most part very peaceful. the protesters say that whenever there has been violence or disturbance, it's been caused by the police. the police, of course, have a different story talking about objects being thrown at them, molotov cocktails and gunfire, but most of the residents don't believe that they are causing this. they believe that the police are actually inciting them. it's an interesting statistic,
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however, that out of the 78 people who were arrested last night here in ferguson, only four of them were actually from ferguson itself. 48 were from elsewhere in the st. louis area, and 18 were from out of state. that gives credence to some of the claims that ou outsiders are coming in and causing some of the trouble. >> all right, rob for us from the protest area. you're looking at pictures of last night's event. we don't want to confuse anybody. these were visuals from last night's event, but certainly law enforcement is hoping not to have a repeat of that. they're preparing here at the command center for any eventuallity. as rob reported so far demonstrators have been very quiet. we'll take a break to look now at headlines of the day outside of here in missouri, joining us
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from washington, d.c. is to is american tonight, sheila mcvicar. >> a humbling day for texas governor rick perry, who turned himself in to police. he was fingerprinted and had to pose for a mug shot. last week a grand jury indicted the governor on two charges of abuse of power for trying to intimidating a representative too resigning after bein. more than 600 firefighters are battling the blaze from the ground, and from the air. well, californians are dealing with fire. in phoenix, arizona, they're dealin dealing with another natural disaste disaster: flash
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flooding. more than two inches of rain fell in the phoenix area this morning. the islamic state released a view appearing to show the beheading of james foley an american journalist missing since 2012. they say it was in response to american airstrikes in iraq. the video threatened to kill another american journalist if americans continue. officials are trying to determine if the video was genuine. a cease-fire fell apart under fire on both sides starting with three rockets launched from gaza while negotiations were still taking place in cairo. in response israel has resumed airstrikes across the gaza strip which palestinian officials say killed three people today, including a toddl toddler. prime minister benjamin netanyahu recalled the israeli delegation from talks in cairo.
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some israeli cabinet sources say the cairo talks have reached a dead-end. since fighting erupted in early july more than 2,000 palestinians and 67 israelis have been killed. the already fragile cease-fire talks suspend: al jazeera's nick schifrin has been covering the onset from jerusalem. it seems that an agreement was so close. why did it fall apart seemingly at the 11th hour. >> reporter: this was the 11th cease-fire. local time in jerusalem and cairo, both sides saying we really don't want to resume this war. we don't know what happened behind the scenes, but we do know right before the rockets struck from gaza into israel hamas officials were hinting that they wanted to send prime minister benjamin netanyahu a message because he and his team in cairo weren't understanding
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their message politically, so wanted to send a message more militarily. that's just the insinuation. we don't know what happened behind the scenes, but what we know now is that it was so close, it seems, and now we're extremely far away from any kind of cease-fire. at least two dozen israeli airstrikes into gaza in the last few hours, now we're hearing reports of artillery strikes in gaza. more than 50 rockets fired from gaza into an israel. none of those in israel have injured anyone or killed anyone. we saw a little bit of damage in one cafe in one southern town in israel, but the strikes in gaza by israel have been very destructive. homes destroyed, the target was someone who was in charge of the rockets being fired for hamas. he was not home, but at least one female member of the family
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was home and one child, and they were killed. >> the scenes that you are-- >> the negotiations are dead temporarily, and the fighting increased. >> those are scenes from the hospital that you're very familiar with. reports that hamas has fired 50 rockets from gaza into israel tonight. what are the israeli. defense forces and political leadership saying happens next? >> i think what they've been todaying consistently is that we're ready for any contingency, that means as troops remain on the border with tanks and artillery so they can fire into gaza as they wish. of course the israeli air force including f-16s and drones remain at the ready. the drones never really left gaza even though there was a cease-fire. they were constantly hovering above there. there are members who are
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pushing for to topping hamas from gaza. that's not something that the prime minister himself has ever approved. all he said was if the rockets condition we'll continue fighting. the strategy per se has not really been given out from him. instead, he focuses on the tactics of sirens for sirens, and rockets to rockets, and rockets will be responded to by airstrike. the only way out is cairo, get back to the democratic table. the two sides coming to an agreement in the middle. sheila, as you know they're very far apart on the main demand. hamas is not going to agree with that. the lifting of the israeli siege entirely. they were relatively close, we thought, about some kind of compromise in the middle. the two sides must come back together, and get back to that compromise. there really is no other way out of this military fighting. >> nick, we have an idea of what
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public opinion is in israel. is there any way to look at public opinion in gaza. it must be difficult for both sides but particularly so in gaza. >> that's an interesting question. i was there for a month, and i got various opinions. this is only anecdote tall. al. we don't have polls. but a real fatigue. 10,000 wounded. one in three gazans were displaced from their homes. a real fatigue. that led them to say take the cease-fire. make a deal and get done so we can continue with our lives. but there was a current of people who wanted the resistence, as they call it, they wants hamas and the other palestinian factions to keep fighting, keep launching rockets into israel and get a cease-fire only that improved their lives.
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only that lifted the israeli blockade or at least eased it, got more medicine, more water, more food into gaza, and that is something that hamas says it wants, to improve the lives of gazaens. israeli saying all hamas wants to do is fire rockets into israel. what we have now is a sense in gaza of fear. tonight people are huddled in their homes very scared of more israeli airstrikes. the only way out according to both sides is some kind of diplomatic inclusion. the military will just keep on fighting from the israeli side. the rockets will keep on firing from the hamas side until both sides can actually make an agreement. >> from jerusalem, nick schifrin. thank you. when we come back more from joie chen in ferguson, "flash point ferguson" live on the streets there
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>> we continue our coverage of flash point ferguson. certainly ferguson, missouri, is not the only communities that has had clashes, faced clashes between local law, enforcement, and the community. sara hoye now and what lessons
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may be learned in ferguson. 12,349 for many lax in ferguson, missouri, the death of michael brown at the hand of police was the last straw. >> bring peace. >> reporter: anger that it felt for the police exploded on the streets. riot police marks through crowds firing tear gas and republicker bullets. the civil unrest lasting days. >> why anybody else, that's why we're asking. >> reporter: the images of law enforcement at war with the citizens have captivated the nations and sparked debate. >> and also be clear that our constitutional rights to speak freely, assemble and report in the press must vigilantly safeguarded. there is no excuse for excessive force by police or any action that denies people the right to
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protest peacefully. ours is a nation of laws. citizens who live under them and for the citizens who enforce them. >> reporter: according to fbi data police killed 410 people in justifiable shootings in the u.s. last year. the scenes in ferguson seem like a replay of another shooting in a different city. in 2001, 21-year-old timothy thomas was shot and killed by cincinnati police in an alley. resident there also took to the streets. in the rioting that followed fires were set. a police officer was shot at, and the city-wide curfew was imposed. like ferguson, the officials delayed details of the shooting because the investigation was ongoing. protesters demonstrated outside of city hall, riots lasted four days and state patrol were brought in. in ferguson there was a more forceful tactic, the governor
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called in the national guard. according to a report u.s. police are using military equip. last year the amount was more than $450 million. but the military presence has not prevented violent outbreaks for ferguson. >> we've been listening to the community, from the protesters out here regarding the lack of african-americans in our police force, people wanting a buy in our community and being part of the community and serving on police departments. we were looking at ways to hopefully increase the number of african-american applicants not just in our police department but across the county. >> reporter: as the nation watches, they brace for another
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night of what could be violence on the streets. >> let's take them instead of ruining our community, let's deal with them in a way that brings calm to our community. >> reporter: spokesman john kirby told reporters that the program to transfer surplus equipment to local police departments has not run amok and has benefited certain communities. back to you, joie. >> america tonight sara hoye reporting for us. as sarah points out, cincinnati is often cited as an example of what went right in the aftermath of violent actions and what made a difference often is who brings together a community with law enforcement. joining us now is reverend damon
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lynch iii with "n in cincinnati. is interesis there hope? is there a way to come together? >> there is. after 15 black men had been killed by cincinnati police, through agreement we brought the entire community together. it wasn't a win-lose, but we all win if the community works together. >> not to be cynical about it, but all it is is talking? >> no. we had civil unrest. we had a class action lawsuit. we had a boycott against the city, and that brought everybody to the table. the police did not admit that they practiced a racial profiling policing, the community felt they did. since the community was up in
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flames we knew we had to come together. from that we had a product. we have a civilian pain complaint authority, and we have community policing which is a new methodology from which our police police. we have the justice department that came in, and looked at the entire use of force that our city used and made a lot of recommendations and changes. >> as we're going see, attorney general holder is in ferguson. did you have an opportunity to get some perspective, give some advice to leaders here? >> we shared our struggle and our success with members of ferguson, the ferguson community. we handed the collaborative agreement to captain ron johnson. we handed it to people in the
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community. we met with the aclu of missouri. we met with the former police chief of st. louis city, and we're coming back in september to meet with all of the groups to see if they are willing to work together because the goal is we want justice. we want reform. but we want community at the end of it. >> reverend, representing the black united front that made such a difference in cincinnati, we hope that that opportunity comes to ferguson as well. we'll take a break and come back to wrap up our hour after this.
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>> al jazeera america >> this is the very tail section
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it was burning when we got here >> unbiased reporting... >> the violence has continued >> the violence has continued just a couple of miles from here >> in depth coverage... >> we've got a military escort allowing us to feel a further than everyone else... >> real global perspective >> this was clearly an attack against them... >> from around the world, to the issues right here at home >> ...shouldn't been brought here in the first place... >> we're not here to take over >> real stories... real people... real understanding... >> where you scared when you hear the bombs? >> al jazeera america real... news... >> we wrap up this hour of special coverage on flash point ferguson as we take a look at tomorrow, aware that it could be
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a very big day. the president's representative attorney general americ erik holder will be coming to look at the investigation of what happened to michael brown. al jazeera will have live coverage during the day. tony harris and i will be anchoring our coverage here from flash point ferguson. we'll have full coverage that have on america tonight. that's coming up at 9:00 eastern tomorrow night. thanks for joining us, and we'll have more of america tonight tomorrow.
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>> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america >> tensions rising in ferguson as outside agitators make a volatile situation worse, and the islamic state group releases a gruesome video of a beheading of an american. those stories and much more it straight ahead. you saw what happened yesterday. as soon as the sun went