egypt is calling on palestinians and israel to accept an indefinite assess mire and resume indirect talks. you can keep up to date with that news. the address is aljazeera.com. taking on the islamic state - is the u.s. head the to syria next? plus, israeli air strikes rain down on gaza as hamas agrees to a war crime investigation. and keep. >> i don't think you are smarter

than anybody else. >> saying sorry, the racist jokes the senate majority leader wishes he never made. >> we made scleclear if you com after americans we'll come after you. strong words from ben rhodes, the deputy national security advisor from the white house addressing the growing threat. good morning and thank you for being with us. welcome to al jazeera. u.s. officials say the islamic state poses a serious threat to the u.s. and her allies. vice president joe biden says: for three years the white house resisted entering the syrian

law. islamic state fighters have taken huge chunks of syria and iraq, trying to establish their own country. the group issued threats against americans and beheaded journalist james foley. the effort to stop them may expand into syria. al jazeera's jane arraf joins us from erbil. what will it take for the u.s. to really expand into syria? >> probably what it will take is a political recognition, that's what is required and sold to the american public. on the military side there's no borders here. when it moved across syria, and when you talk to military people, they are clear that to wail do any acknowledge to the

group. to make sure they contain it. they'll have to target it. that's where the fighters come plough, where a lot of the weapons go back and forth. on the military side, there's a recognition that is what is needed. does the islamic threat pose a threat. and if so, how? >> it depend how widely you view the threat. the islamic state has an effective recruiting cam pain, if al qaeda and iraq was thought to be a threat to the united states in the view of some

people. this is more lethal and more effective what we are talking about is these threats. going back to the home countries with what they learnt and launching attacks there. that's the immediate fear, if not the long term fear. >> the fighters are coming in. on friday. talks were suspended on a new government, protesting a deadly attack on a mosque much what is the latest on that, jane? >> well, that is a huge crisis. it's the most dangerous episode seep in years. everyone is afraid that this attack, by what are believed to be members of militia could be what sends the country

spiralling back in civil war. there was a threat to boycott the formation of a new government. some rolled back on that and the talks going on in baghdad to bring them back. at the same time, where the mosque was attacked. tribes warned that they'd take up arms and revenge. it is a volatile situation. it could be a spark that sets more of iraq to flame. how about where you are now in erbil. and it has been the center between diplomatic talks - what is the latest where you are. >> erbil is a lot calmer than what it was a couple of weeks ago, 20km away from here. they are not far, but the kurdish forces managed to get back on the offensive.

that's what the u.s. air strikes did, what they were meant to do. when the islamic state group rolled, the kurdish forces faced late fighters. 600 miles of territory. they couldn't hold the line, the u.s. came until with the air strikes. kurdish forces have gone back in. encountering a tough flight. three officers were killed, including a general. ferocious fighting. thank you so much for being with us. >> meanwhile the death toll is mounting in syria, where the united nation says that more than 191,000 people have died since the civil war began more than three years ago. 85% of those victims are men, more than 8,800 children have also been killed. the u.n. estimates that 6,000 people are dying there every

month. palestinian president mahmoud abbas called for continuation of peace talks. mahmoud abbas says he wants to return to the negotiating table to avoid bloodshed. this comes as explosions, and israel vowed more attacks after the killing of a 4-year-old israeli boy. jacky rowland is live in israel. after a bloody friday, how likely is it that the two sides could go back to the table? >> good morning. the israelis haven't seen details of the proposal. they generally don't comment on this thing until they see it in black and white. i have to say mahmoud abbas is

not an important player in this conflict. he runs the palestinian authority in the west bank, but has little influence over hamas, the hamas commanders, who are engaged in the fighting against israel. you are right to point out that there has been a particularly bloody past 24 hours. and in many ways that makes it more difficult for either side to see a kind of end strategy here. they seem to have engaged in the fighting without any clear outward route. the ace railize in particular, they are under a lot of pressure from public opinion to bring security to those communities living close to the gaza strip. and they are quite angry that dispute weeks of fighting mortars and rockets are land, and they were encouraged to return to the home. having returned to the home.

they are returned to the firing line again. . >> mahmoud abbas is not a real player, what about the pledge to join the international criminal court. what would that many? >> well, he has, for some time, wished to join the international criminal court. the significant development now is that hamas is actually supporting that initiative. the idea being that if the palestinian territories belonged to the international criminal court, that court would have jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes. there has been a lot of allegations in the international community about potential war crimes committed by israel in gaza, some organizations criticised and accused hamas from committing those crimes during the fight as well. israel would resist attempts to have those alleged crimes

investigated. it claims the international bodies, u.n. bodies have an inherent bias against israel and wouldn't get a clear hearing. israel is ending whenever the palestinians join a u.n. body as a member or observer. that's the palestinians pre-empting, prejudging the out come of peace talks between israel and the palestinians, peace talks that have been in deep freeze for a long time. an outcome we are waiting to see. joige us live from jerusalem, thank you for being with us. querk angela merkel is in ukraine. she was presented with flowers from petro porashenko. there's the flowers. talks were likely to center on the situation with russia and eastern ukraine. they plan a news conference today. a convoy of trucks has begun to cross back into russia.

more than 100 of them went into ukraine on friday, without permission. well ukraine and render leaders say russia violated its sovereignty. those trucks contained humanitarian aid. the trucks have been sitting on the border for a week. moscow said it lost patients. the persons of michael brown are preparing to say their final goodbyes. they'll bury their son on monday in ferguson, missouri. there are conflicting reports as to why officer darren wilson shot the unarmed teenager. the grand jury is weighing evidence against wilson. we are learning the make-up. nine of the 12 jurors are white, three are black. in terms of gender, there'll be five women and seven men, selected from a county-wide pool of registered voters. [ chanting ] for the first time in two

weeks there was not a single arrest overnight. you can hear the protests chanting "moun michael brown." 100 marched to protest his death, diane eastabrook has this report on the community trying to heal. >> reporter: what a difference a week makes. in ferguson, the street where michael brown lost his life is peaceful, lined with wilted roses. mourners, including michael brown's parents paid their respects at a makeshift memorial. for kelly webb, it inspires a mix of emotions. >> the roses and memorials has been - it's touching. it's overwhelmingly sad. it's a feeling of heavy innocence. >> for this woman it means something else. >> you can move in peace, in silence, you don't have to be disruptive. you don't have to be a mad person and walk around tearing things up.

>> a week ago ferguson erupted in violence after police identified the officer that shot brown. the same day they famed brown as a suspect in a strong-armed robe at a convenience store. protests sparked rioting and looting, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency. there's calm on the street where police clashed with protesters for several nights. >> hand up, don't shoot. >> a vendor hawking t-shirts has a friendly encounter with a police officer, handing out water. >> thank you, guys. >> a few blocks away, business is getting back to normal at this cell phone store looted and robbed last week of 13,000 in merchandise. the owner, sony diane is encouraged which support from customers and neighbours. >> in the last few days, and the temple on the street and the way the police handle the situation.

it makes me feel like there is some hope, life at the end of the tunnel. and it's getting shorter and shorter. signs that ferguson is regaining a sense of community. all right. robert ray joins us live from ferguson. good morning to you. we have seen a third night of calm in ferguson, and the national guard left. so what are state and local law enforcement doing to keep the peace. what happened these past three nights that hasn't happened before? >> hey. good morning. you know, you can see some of the shots here. past few nights basically the police had a calm out on the streets. there has been elders walking around with some of the young people, trying to keep the peace and make sure that no one is doing violent acts and looting. quite a difference a week makes. last saturday this store was looted, and now, today, it's very calm, even though the

boards are still up. captain ron johnson addressed some of the calm possess on the streets. here is what he had to say. >> we had to respond to incidents, there were no molotov cocktails, no fires or shooting. we did not see an until handgun. the whispering hands of train will provide a brighter tomorrow for our community. >> there has been a couple of officers taken off the streets, one for inflammatory comment on a law enforcement video recorded two years ago, another facebook comments, and the video that came out from a couple of nights ago, an officer right here, actually, drew his gun and said i'm going to, expletive, kill you. that officer is off the streets and we hope for more peace today. >> robert ray in ferguson, missouri. thank you for being with us. michael brown is not the only unarmed man to be shot.

michael brown, his parents are expected in new york for a march to protest the death of eric garner, he died when police tried to arrest him using a choek hold. before going down he yelled "i can't breathe, i can't breathe", the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. thousands rally to call for squuz in the case. reverend al-sharp son who organised the march said it will be peaceful and michael brown's parents will be there. >> senator majority leader harry reid apologiesed for what he said to a group of asian leaders. >> the asian population is so productive. i don't think you are smarter than anyone else, but to a lot of us we are. all right. well, many are calling reid's comments racist.

some are raising it off as a bad joke. he says: he told a.b.c. news: it's not the first gaff. in 2008 he predicted president obama would win, because he was "light skinned and doesn't speak with a speak with a negro dialect." time for a check of the forecast with kevin corriveau. rain is coming down hard in some areas. >> it is. we had a major problem in washington state on top of the wildfires. i'll show you video. we'll go towards washington. the rain is heavy as we ended the week. previously the summer had wildfires that scarred much of the area. look at the video na came in. as we saw that. do we have the video. let me explain what happened.

there's a lot of heavy rain. the mudslides and landslides cut off the highway. dammed homes. there were not reports of casualties across the region. as we have these wildfires, whenever we have heavy rain, it could be a problem. we have better weather, drier conditions over the next couple of days. back to you. >> thank you so much. >> the digital divide. why more than 70% of the nation's school district are not making the grade when it comes to computers in the classrooms. from southern california to washington state. the sea creatures that are washing ashore by the millions. don't go anywhere.

the spas x programme suffered a setback, an unmanned test rocket exploded after takeoff on friday. the company says it was deliberate after an anomaly was detected. it's the highest profile failure. it was started by a billionaire this 2002. well, there's an effort under way to equip american schools with high tech teaching schools. as mary snow explains, a major hurdle in providing a good digital education is an economic divide. >> reporter: digital learning has been hailed as a transformative fix for america's education system. advocates say technology can help to kust miss lesson plans to a student's need. give the most disadvantaged child a chance to succeed. >> the point is as a teacher is doing amazing work to a class of

30 students, the technology supports the teacher in meeting the needs of every student. >> for feed back on homework assignments to interactive explorations of the solar systems. software programs offer students a chance to learn at their own pace, and gain skills preparing them for the high-skilled tech-savvy jobs. for more than 70% of school districts, particularly in lower income areas, a cutting edge education is a distant reality. a report card grading states on the digital infrastructure, that means their access to high-speed broadband and connective devices showed a variety of states failed, with not a single state scoring an a. according to an it can, there's an average of one computer for every student. much of the supply is ageing, in need of replacement.

>> in an age when the world's information is a click away, it demands that we bring our schools and libraries into the 21st century. as an effort to modernize the schools, president obama announced his connected initiative, connecting $2 billion of funds in a goal to connecting students why high-speed internet over the next five years. experts warn it will need closer to $5 billion, and a host of other costs. >> and then you have getting the computers and the devices into student's hands. then replacing those, repairing those. making sure there's software and apps, and you have to train teachers in how to use them. >> if budgets were not an issue, experts say digital learning is new enough that schools should think carefully before spending huge sums. >> it's something to watch

closely to what degree is this making a di making a difference and o to what degree is it a shiny gadget that costs money but doesn't make that much of a difference if you have a really good teacher. >> by comparison all schools in south korea are connected to high speed internet. all the teachers are fully trained. we'll tell you about a sport where robots are the newest competitors. how it's having an impact on international diplomacy. live pictures out of kiev as angela merkel meets with ukranian president petro porashenko. she is standing next to him. al jazeera is coming right back.

scientists believe warm weather and wind caused millions of blue jelly fish creatures to wash up on the west coast. they flooded southern california to the washington state and are known as sailor jellies, because there's a transparent fin that acts like a sail. technology secrets are strayeded between the united states and china, this time it's no covert operation. instead it's a robotics competition bringing together high school students from both

counties. adrian brown has the story. >> reporter: a vision of the sporting future. where rob the leave the images. a high-tech contest involving high school students from china and the united states. a bit of competition, where the emphasis is on partnership. >> it's about growing together, helping everyone to do what they can at the best of their ability. everyone can learn from. >> reporter: some of the robots are operator controlled. others computer guided. robotic sport began in the united states 20 years ago. the chinese have only been at it since 2012. national pride was on display. for most of the u.s. students, it's their first visit to china. >> it's cool to bring something we know so well and bring it here and introduce them to it, and good to see their faces when we see something new. and they can do in the coming

years. >> reporter: both crews had six weeks to build and design their robots, programming them in a range of skills. away from the contest the emphasis is op mentoring. this american is a beneficially, and the event reinforced his ambitious to become a science tist. >> the robot is interesting. it is stimulating. me and our team-mates have an interest in science and technology. relations between china and the united states have been strained, with both countries accusing each other of stealing technology train. the focus is sharing technology. >> i think it's great. the symbolism of the cooperation between teams and the cooperation between the united states and chinese groups. >> international robotic sport is expensive.

sponsors and parent teachers group in the united states donate money for budgets as high as 120,000. but that probably felt like money well spend. well it's beginning to look a lot like christmas - in florida already. right there, the lights are twinkling and bells are ringing. this is the earliest start to the shopping season ever. that's because sam's retailer says it wants to put customers in a holly, jolly mood hoping they are ready to spend hair holy jolly money. >> coming up, a possible breakthrough in the study of autism. researchers make a study in the brain that could help in the treatment of people suffering developmental disorder. strengthening ties between china

and the u.s. i'm morgan radford, back with you in 2.5 minutes when al jazeera america continues. deserve justice >> anatomy of a protest... >> ...the police look like they're getting ready to come down the street >> with militarized police departments >> forces their message... >> they're actually firing canisters of gas... >> a fractured community demands answers >> what do we want? >> justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> faul lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> there blocking the door... >> ground breaking... >> truth seeking... >> we have to get out of here... award winning investigative documentary series... special episode ferguson: city under siege only on al jazeera america

the beheading of an american journalist kibing the fight against the islamic state into high gear. this morning signs the white house may be considering targeted attacks in syria. plus ukraine called it a russian envision. now a convoy crossing into the ukranian territory is heading out. russia is not backing down yet. >> you don't just walk out of maximum security after 25 years and become a normal happy

person. it's extremely difficult. >> imagine spending decades behind bars for a crime you didn't commit. flawed science sent an innocent man to prison, and how it impacts thousands of convictions talk about campaign chaos. a speech ended in a barrage of airborne chairs. >> we are activity considering what will be necessary to deal with that threat, and we are not going to be restricted by borders. we have shown time and again if there's a counter-terrorism threat, we'll take action against that threat. >> strong words from the white house deputy ben rhodes as the u.s. wages further action against the islamic state group. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. >> the murder of journalist con foley is a direct attack on the united states.

air strikes against the islamic state may stretch from iraq, and now into syria. the president has resisted intervention in the more than three year old syrian civil war. that could change because this week the islamic state fighters issued direct threats against americans while killing foley. zeina khodr has more on the group's rising threat. the islamic state group carves out what it is calling a new county from the territories of iraq and syria, the bridge is a dividing line, part of a 1,000km border that iraq's kurds are trying to protect. we are on the east side of a village that is a gateway to erbil, the capital of the semiautonomous kurdish region. the warring sides are not far party. the peshmerga has taken new grounds in the region, and control the kurdish town. despite the game, it will not be easy to win the fight against

the islamic state group. u.s. officials acknowledge that. the kurds say they are fighting for their existence. the nephew of the president of the kurdish region is on the front line. he says that they are facing a strong well-armed and dangerous enemy, buts on this front the peshmerga are not getting support from the u.s. air force because the islamic state group is adapting to the new reality. that group has been using sophisticated weaponry and improvised explosive devices to slow the advance of kurdish forces. the peshmerga welcomes more help from the iraqi army, but has not had a preps in the north, since taking control of the sunni heartland in june. >> the accord in my submission between us and military forces, it is necessary. when we make a donation, we could respond and fight them better than now. >> further east there is

cooperation. iraqi forces are helping the kurds recapture the arab towns. this will be a long-term battle. so far the kurds and shia led army do not have the support of the communities. they need them on board, else this could turn into a war against the sunnis, instead of against the islamic state group. >> and u.s. officials have come under fire following the murder of james foley by the islamic state. national security advisor ben rhodes says the administration does everything possible to free u.s. hostages. >> we have used all military intelligence, diplomatic resources we can bring to to pull thread to find out where the hostages are and to rescue them when we saw an opportunity, and work with any country that may have a means of locating them, and tragically we were not

able to rescue mr foley. con foley was abducted by the islamic state while reporting on the conflict. the group released a video showing his murder. the islamic state is holding up to 20 western prisoners. the same man that killed con foley is threatening to kill another one of his hostages. that's an american journalist pictured here. officials say the aid workers are two italians. they are 21 and 20 years old respectively. the international committee of the red cross says three of its workers were kidnapped last act and are held by the same group. the united nations says 191,000 have been killed in syria. an estimated 6,000 people are dying each and every month. in the latest attacks, five were killed in southern syria.

>> reporter: activists in syria say this girl was injured when government forces dropped barrel bombs on a town in northern iraq. five children died here. >> translation: it's a crime against humanity to kill the kids. i want the world to watch these crimes she's a child hit by barrel bombs, who will protect the rights of the incident children. who. >> the united nations says more than 191,000 people are dead in the civil war that dragged on for more than three years. >> it's not a number, it's people. people are dying every day. if you look at monthly averages, it's high. if you are talking about the last year, around 5,000 to 6,000 per month. >> government forces are shelling rebel-held parts.

most of the u.n. documented dead are reported to be around the capital. a former stronghold of homs. activists blame more on indiscriminate bombing. the u.n. admits it's been unable to protect civilians caught up in the conflict. >> the conflict is metastaysing outwards in an uncontrollable process, whose eventual limits we cannot predict. the crisiser home the cost of the failure to prevent conflict. >> reporter: it's not just of the government, seeing rebels have been subdivided. the u.s. says it might act in syria, to deal with the threat of the islamic state group. activists accuse the u.s. and international community for creating an environment. by failing to stop the killings.

on top of the almost 200,000 people who died in the syrian civil war, many travelled to neighbouring countries to escape the files. there's nearly 3 million refugees, lebanon has the most. stay tuned. ahead we'll have a range of options, a look at a strategy the white house is considering for targeting the islamic state group, and we'll talk to the former director for iraq at the national security security council. [ explosion ] . >> several explosions heard in gaza, at least seven people were killed in israeli air strikes. the violence comes as palestinian president mahmoud abbas calls for a return to peace talks in endisappointment. the indirect talks broke down on tuesday. mahmoud abbas said he wants talks to resume to avoid

casualties. >> this is a violation of ukraine sovereignty. russia must remove its vehicles and personnel from the territory of ukraine. failure to do so will result in additional costs and isolation. >> strong words from the pentagon russia sent more than 100 trucks into the ukraine on friday. today it was returned to russia. >> kiev says crossing the border without permission is basically a direct invasion. you looking live in kiev. that's german chancellor angela merkel, visting ukraine, meeting with petro porashenko, who welcomed her with showers. they headed into the kiev administration building for talks, likely to center on the situation with russia. >> president petro porashenko took part in a national flag-raising ceremony. he tacked about february's process and said the country

rose up for its rights under our flag. the ukraine flag was outlawed when the country became part of the soviet union, it was restored after the collapse in 1991. coming up at 8:30, a keeper look at what is behind the convoy, and what it means for the conflict in ukraine. rains in the pacific north west trigger a mudslide. it looks like everyone escaped this one unharmed. meteorologist kevin corriveau with more on that. >> this is a danger you get when you have wildfires. they clear out the topsoil that holds the moisture in. this was a danger of rains. again we could see more of this area. i want to take you to the northern part of washington. take a look at the video of mudslide we see at the end of the week. highway 153 was cut off because of the mudslides. they had about an inch of rain in an hour across the area.

when the rain falls on areas that are scored by wildfires, it makes the mudslides and land slides susceptible. once you come back, we are looking at heavy rain to the east. the rain showers moving through montreal, we are looking at flash flood watches and warnings. you see where the yellows are, we expect between 6-8 inches of rain over the next several days. i want to take you to the caribbean. we are watching the area of activity, it's a disturbance now that could become tropical storm crysta ball. we'll watch this carefully. some models say it will make its way to the bahamas. flooding could be a possibility. rip tides across the beach areas of florida. thank you. it's been two weeks since a ferguson, missouri police officer shot and killed unarmed black teenager michael brown.

this morning we are learning about who is on the grand jury investigating the death. they'll decide what is happening next for officer darren wilson. nine jurors are white and three black. there'll be five women and seven men, selected from a country-wide pool of registered voters. [ chanting ] for the first time in two weeks there was not a single arrest in ferguson last night. about 100 people marched peacefully to protest brown's death. robert ray joins us from the heart of it in ferguson, mississippi. good morning to you. the aclu is slamming the ferguson police department. saying the department is not being transparent about brown's death. what information do the civil rights act visits say is missing? >> good morning. basically they are saying that the report that is no detail, no

description of what happens, there's no names, and the response time by the county police is unacceptable. it was 40 minutes before they showed up on the site. glendale police have taken one of their officers off duty because of inflammatory facebook comments, where he called some protesters rabid dogs. let's listen to the chief. >> we are embarrassed by the situation. it was concerning and shocking. that's why we took the actions we did so quickly. so another police officer was suspended because two years ago he was taped on some police video, making completely inflammatory comments about people in the community, also another police officer taking off for pointing a shotgun at

protesters, telling them he was going to kill them. like you said, it is peaceful the past few days, and some places, restaurants and shops boarded up. >> so we are hearing no description, no names, poor response times, and people on facebook calling them rabed dogs. the reality of it is behind you the streets of ferguson, and the shop you are in front of looks different from a week ago. for three nights in a row we have seen a lot of calm streets. what changed? >> basically what happened from our boots on the ground. what we viewed is a lot of church groups and elders came out and started to walk with young men and women, protesters and demonstrators, keeping them calm, explaining the looting and violence is not helping the situation, it's inflaming the situation. captain ron johnson came in with

a bit of a clear head. he's head of the highway patrol. he made comments about the calming. here is what he had to say. >> we had to respond to fewer incidents tonight. there were no molotov cocktails, no fires, shootings, and we did not cease a single handgun. the whispering wind of change reflect a brighter tomorrow for our community. >> you know, the police have been moving up and down the street, more on foot, and not in armoured gear. that is making the demonstrators feel at peace to not see the tactical unit. they are still out there. in some places they come out at night in case demonstrators decide to get violent. captain ron johnson seems to have this under control. resident in ferguson set up

an imprompt u memorial for michael brown. monday will be his funeral. his parent will be expected in new york city for a march to protest the death of eric gar r garner, when police tried to arrest him using a choek hold. a medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. thousands rallied. reverend al sharpton who organised the march says it will be peaceful. coming up, a range of options to battle islamic state. one may be targeted tryings inside syria. we talk to a former director for rick and from the national security council. he joins us after the black. they've been convicted of pretty heinous crimes, a group of inmates is suing over lack of information on death role. that's not all.

the jokes about asians that prompted an apology from the most powerful man in the senate - all that and more next.

>> they are beyond just a terrorist group. they marry ideology, a sophistication of strat edgic and tactical military prowess. they are tremendously well funded. it's beyond anything we have seen. >> that was defense secretary chuck hagel talking about the breadth and the depth of the islamic state threat. the white house is considering a range of options, including going inside syria to tackle the terrorist organization. we are joined by a guest who previously served as director for iraq at the national security council. he joins us from washington. thank you for being with us. it's our measure to have you. >> first off. ben road told reporters that the administration will not be restricted by borders. do you support an effort to

confront the group inside of syria. >> i think any effective strategy against i.s.i.s. involves syria. it doesn't understate the political difficulties. we bond them. they were effectively against both sides. i.s.i.s. and the bashar al-assad regime. the record of defeating a group, when it has a safe haven to move into. when we think about the taliban and pakistan, it is not encouraging. you have to engage the group where it lies, breathes and operates. how capable is this group. how do they compare in threat level to a group like al qaeda. >> well, they appear to be more powerful. al qaeda obviously was capable and able to strike the homeland while the guard was down. they didn't have an army.

as the defense secretary said, this is a group of a different character, in terms of a murderous ideology and in terms of incapability. al qaeda pulled off a terror attack as massive as 9/11. is i.s.i.s. able to pull something off on that type of scale? >> well, they have the capability, now, of course, we are more alert and aware and have systems in place to prevent it happening. again, we are have more difficult target. i.s.i.s. has a lot of capability. this new renewed aggressive approach, how much is all in response. did it force the white house to take a more aggressive approach against the islamic state. >> i think then you will have a

problem. maybe serving as a catalyst, bringing this to a head, but i think the white house knew they had a problem to deal with. >> speaking of it as a catalyst, let's listen to whatevering said yesterday. >> we feel strongly that it is not the right policy for governments to support the payment of ransom to terrorist organization. we believe it creates perverse incentives going forward, and a source of funding, and we want to cut and choke their source of funding. >> we know the u.s. didn't pay the ransom, but his brother is coming out saying the government didn't do enough to save my brother. in your opinion, what more could the u.s. have done. would is ransom have saved con foley's life? >> short of paying the ransom, which the united states does not

do as a mart of principle, just to ensure there were though incentives. short of paying the ransom, it's hard to see what more the united states could have done. they did, we know, try to mound a rescue attempt that was unsuccessful. nonetheless, it's a sizeable investment. >> okay. i want to talk about just quickly before you go, the biggest picture, in terms of white house partners. in an op-ed in. washington post vice president joe biden said support will have to come from partners. where are the partners? >> well, i think we'll have to look around the region. our preferred partner is the government in iraq. one it puts together a unified government when it has representatives from the kurds, sunnis and shia. our other partners in the region are more problematic, the

ukrainians, assisting the iraqis, but the difficulties are well-known, there are kurdish groups in the north, the p.k.k., playing a substantial role in helping with the yazidi group, but they are a lifted terrorist -- listed terrorist group. the free syrian army and syrian army is fighting each other. the preferred partners is the iraqi army. >> the flow of fighters including americans to the battlefield must be addressed. how do you deal with an influx of foreign fighters? >> there needs to be a renewed effort on the partners in the region, on cutting off the borders. there's some flow in turkey, they made great substance. everyone in the region needs to

cooperate better intel sharing so we know who is trying to get into i.s.i.s.'s area of operation, whether iraq or kiria, who is trying -- or syria, who is trying to move, where they are coming from, and better visibility. >> the senior fellow request the new america foundation joining us from washington d.c. it's been a pleasure to have you. >> thank you, good morning. >> 10 death row inmates are souing the stop the state from using the electric chair. the torture device is unconstitutional because the prisoners will experience excruciating pain. in may they were allowed to use the electric chair when unable to get the drugs for a lethal injection. speaking of prison, a seen born man was freed from the united states prison after serving 24 years for arson and murder. a judge overturned the fction of a 79-year-old man, saying his

1989 conviction was based on faulty science. >> hopefully this brilliant opinion by judge carlson discussing these developments in science will be influential throughout the country, and we'll see the dozens of exonerations that we ought to see. >> he was convicted of burning a disabled 20-year-old to death. they contended the fire was an accident. prosecutors will appeal his release. senate majority leader harry reid is apologising for comments made about asian americans. he did so while speaking to a group of business leaders. >> asian population is so productive. i don't think you are smarter than anyone else, but you convince a lot of us you are. what i had to do today is keep my wand straight. >> many are calling harry reid's

comments race. >>. some wave it off as a bad joke. he regrets offending anyone and tells a.b.c. news: the reality this is not the first gav by the senate leaders he predicted president barack obama would win because he's light skinned and doesn't speak with a negro dialect. stay tuned. leaders in ukraine called it a russian invasion. now a convoy is headed out of the territory. russia vows to send them back in. another deadly day in gaza where hamas rocket fire and israeli air strikes rain down. a new demand from mahmoud abbas. we are coming up live in jerusalem after this short

break.

good morning to you, welcome back to al jazeera america. live from new york city, i'm morgan radford, and these are the top stories. a third night of calm in ferguson, missouri, as tensions ease. a community there prepares to bury michael brown on monday. two smument annious investigations began to look into why officer darren wilson shot the unarmed black teen. german chancellor angela merkel met with petro porashenko today, the meeting coming a day after russian aid trucks cross the the border without permission. the convoy is returning to russia today. the move called a violation of his sovereignty. the white house says air strikes against the islamic state may stretch from iraq into syria, come ag as the islamic state fighters issued threats against the americans, while killing

american journalists james foley. >> the islamic state group proved resourceful and well finances. ransom of hostages, theft, and black market oil are part of their revenue streams. the way the group gets its money represents a challenge in the united states, and countries in western europe. >> the u.s. says the islamic state is gathering steam and growing more dangerous. >> ideology, sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. they are tremendously well funded. >> this is beyond anything we have seen. >> the group has money, weapons, battle experience and brains. using high resolution videos and hashtag, it broadcast a message

world wise, a quantum leap from what saddam hussein released in hiding. much of the equipment was left behind by the israeli army, including state of the art tanks, vehicles and huge stores of ammunition. the group looted mosul's banks and museums, possibly making off with gas, gold and antick equities. the assets run as high as $2 million. some is ransom money. demanding $132 million. but the u.s. would refuse to pay. european nations may be taking a different tack. france and spain paid to secure the release of journalists in syria. the group generates cash flow from its conquest in the region's oil fields. >> or we can do the maths.

the estimates are the pentagon, and it's conservative. 30,000 barrels of iraqi oil. i.s.i.s. has control of the oil-rich region, adding 40,000 to 50,000. upwards of 80,000 a day of oil. >> at a big discount over legitimate oil prices, selling that quantity of oil could net the group 2 million to $3 million. a sum for a group whose ambitions and tactics seem unlimited. >> black market oil is largely consigned to the islamic state's territory and parts of turkey and jordanment none is making its way into the legitimate market. controls for that are too tight. meanwhile rockets and missiles have been flying in gaza once again.

israel released this video of rockets it said hamas fired at them. you are looking live now inside of gaza, and at least sepp people have been killed by israeli air strikes today alone. this comes as palestinian president mahmoud abbas is calling for a return to peace talks to avoid more violence. al jazeera's jane ferguson has more. >> reporter: this is the sab re area where homes were flattened in the latest barrage of air strikes. witnesses say the attacks destroyed everything. >> translation: two missiles hit a house. all the block came down, for $500 metres everything was destroyed. there's nothing standingful people had no time to escape. everyone was injured. >> it was not just the sab re

area dozens of strikes lit up the skies. rescue teams struggled to bring many to hospital. >> we were sitting waling to have donor. we held the children around us. blood was gushing from our head. i put cotton on my head. we found many wounded in the streets. >> israel says rocket sites were targeted. retents say homes, farms and schools are continuously being lit. the israeli military says more than 80 rockets were fired on friday. a boy was killed in a village, one rocket hit a home. the first israeli child to die, claiming the lives of 500 palestinian children. the mortar was launched from near a hamas-run school, used to shelter the displaced.

with that came more warnings on attacks on residential areas. >> we call on all civilians who have ammunition inside and near the homes, which is used to fire inside israel, to leave the houses, because we will target the locations in the coming hours. >> hamas released this video showing rocket fire towards targets in israel. more than 2,000 palestinians have been killed, and over 10,000 have been injured in israel's ongoing attacks on the densely populated gaza strip. and with the collapse of ceasefire talks, there's little hope of an end to the violence. jackie roland is live in jerusalem. how is israel reacting to abbas's call for peace talks, and after a bloody friday, which we just saw, how likely is it that the two sides could go back to the negotiating table?

>> well, good morning. i have to say many here in israel are skeptical about the chances of the peace stalks in cairo yielding anything. in fact, some israeli analysts described the egyptian efforts like attempts to revive a corpse. the talks really seem to have made no progress whatsoever, up until now. you are right to point out the increased blood shed. that has an effect on israeli public opinion, and they want to know why the army and the government has not been able to bring security, particularly to the southern part of the country areas, which are within easy striking range of gaza, so the israeli government and military are under pressure to deliver security, they would like to see a ceasefire, an agreement, a

lasting truce, but that would have to be in a way that they felt would guarantee long-term security. >> speaking of these questions raised by the israeli public, there's a report today that hamas pledged to join the international criminal court. wouldn't that open hamas to an investigation. >> it could potentially open hamas up to an investigation. obviously the main objective of hamas and the other factions would be to put a spotlight on israel. ismail was resisting any idea of giving the i.c.c. jurisdiction over gaza. in the last few weeks they invited a delegation of congress men, to get them to support israel in resisting the idea. they were up against the u.n. bodies that are by as against

israel, claiming they were handed up to a double standard. israel is judged according to one set of standard and palestinians by another. >> jackie roland joining us live from jerusalem. always a pleasure to have you with us. [ chanting ] you are watching as thousands of libyans rallied in tripoli, where demonstrators say they don't want foreign militaries intervening in the power. the united nations is calling on a stop to the violence, and dozens have been killed in confrontations between rival militia. there's harsh words against russia after a convoy entered ukraine on friday. the convoy was called on invasion. many trucks are returning to russia this morning, the kremlin insisting they only carried

humanitarian aid. angela merkel is in kiev and is meeting petro porashenko. she's holding flowers that he gifted to her. they headed into a building for talks, likely to center on russia and ukraine situation. for a look at that and more, we have the executive board member of the ukranian committee of america. thank you for being with us. the convoys, no one knows what is on the trucks. did you see that alone raise a red flag? >> absolutely. you can't deal in good faith with vladimir putin. remember a couple of months ago when the crisis was building up in syria, it was a year ago, he was adamant about no humanitarian aid to syria the previous humanitarian aid missions included parts of georgia, and other areas, where

russian troops why not left. there's no reason to trust what he is saying is humanitarian aid. >> who has the poll, the cash, to have russia up. we saw angela merkel there speaking with petro porashenko, does germany have enough sway to ask vladimir putin to back away. the rest of the world hasn't shown vladimir putin that there are consequences for his actions. there was no repercussions for what happened in georgia, he kept troops there, in violation of a ceasefire agreement that was hashed out. there's no reason to deal with vladimir putin in good faith. what needs to happen is the rest of the world needs to show him there'll be consequences, and there have not been serious consequences to his actions. >> you mentioned a notion of consequences. the reality is from the united states, the u.s. obtained so many pots, iraq, gaza, and now we are talking syria. do you think the ukraine has

found in some level in terms of international priority. >> in terms of the news cycle ukraine slips from time to time. i don't doubt it's talked about with world leaders. it's a big tipping point in the world. if something were to happen to the largest land mass in europe. this is the largest per acreage, and a large population, if something happened to the stability, that would be a major catastrophe. >> what needs to happen, as you say, to hold vladimir putin accountable. >> the rest of the world needs to show vladimir putin that they'll be able to confront him. up to this point, there has been a fear of demonstrating that they have the will to do something. you can't negotiate with someone without having - it's a problem with president obama, the fact that he likes to give away the cards before the game starts.

>> beyond ukraine or with them specifically. >> ukraine specifically, repeating no boots on the ground. not that i'm advocating for it. you don't say that if you want to come to a resolution. you want to say there's a possibility that native troobs fight go war games. they may be allowed to gain more supplies and rebuild the army and shrunk the terrorist operations to less than 5,000 square miles. >> sounds like you are saying the u.s. and everyone else is shaken. where do you think the fear has come from? >> i think it's a lack of resolve. people have forgotten this we had stability and world order for decades after world war. people understood the tragedy, if you break apart world order. with the first and world war ii. today is black ribbon day in europe, the day.

remembrance for all victims of total yaism. today was the date that 70 years oo, where the soviet union and naziism. the two countries made a pact. we have to remember what happened back then. what vladimir putin has done is arrived off little bits, and i'm not of the impression that he will not try to take a bit of the ball it cans, he doesn't -- baltics. he doesn't agree. >> sounds like black ribbon day is the day to remember. thank you for being with us. mexico is launching a new police force to fight drug gangs. 5,000 officers will focus on rural areas. the government says they will protect businesses and farmers from extortion, kidnapping and robbery. criminal gangs diversified the

activities beyond drug smuggling. >> the unrest in ferguson, missouri prompted officials to delay the start of the school year. it didn't stop some parents to use the unrest as a learning experience. >> you are on yourway... >> this 8 year-old has not had the chance to wear an outfit picked out for the first day of a new school year. for two days this week, he got the chaps to learn about -- chance to learn about animals and make friends at a pop-up school at the ferguson library. it's dubbed the school of peace. due to the turmoil in ferguson, school was postponed for 15,000 students, leaving families scrambling to make last-minute day care arranges. his mum says she and her husband had to take days off from work and were relieved to send him to

class, even if it's non-traditional. >> regardless of what is going on, you have to teach the children. the volunteers say they are trying to create a sanctuary. a counsellor devoted hours, talking to those that appear to be struggling with emotions and fear of two weeks of intermittent violence. on monday, a dozen kids lined up to go to school. on friday, as word spread, there were more than 200. >> i'll tell you what you do is something wonderful and magical. that we had to turn a child away. the child's school was in session. they tried to skip to go to school. >> earlier this week, he joined his parents to protest. when he saw the police, he was nervous. >> he said "i wanted to be a policeman, now i don't know, are they, hike, scary", we had him take a picture with the policeman. can i get a feel that they were

okay. he was walking past and scared. i was like you don't have to be scared. >> why would you like to be one? >> because you get to have fun. >> you help people. he will be able to wear that new back to school outfit on monday. his parents tried to use the unrest on the streets as a real-time history and social studies less yn for their son. >> you got a different kind of education. >> he learnt that we had to stand up for what we believe in, and nothing is given to you, you had to go after what you learn in life. he's learnt a great deal. ferguson officially start their school near on monday. coming up, it could be a breakthrough in diagnosing autism, a study going inside the brain of autistic children.

we talk to the lead scientist on the study. running for their livelihood. why the street vendors are kicked to the curb, told by the government that they can't set up stop. when we talk to an unseeded senator. the campaign rally that turned into a riot. don't go anywhere.

@j

>> come on. look at that. bedlam in bolivia as chairs demri during a political rally. it had nothing to do with differing political opinions, it was due to friction between the fans of rival soccer clubs. the candidates blame each other's supporters for the dust

up. good morning to you, welcome back to al jazeera america, live from new york city, i'm morgan radford, thank you for being with us. scientists may have made a major breakthough in the study of autism. researchers at columbia university found on oversupply of connections in the brain in autistic kid. they are trimmed with aim. joining us is the lead scientist, a columbian university neurobiologist. thank you for being with us. >> that is correct you. >> you studied the brains of 26 children with autism. what did you find? >> well, as you just mentioned, there is an overproduction of senn app sis early in life, maybe around the age of 2 and 3. then there's - you are making senn app sis and losing senn app sis throughout life. it's involved in learning. >> i thought you only make them. i know you said it's important to scale back, what's the

difference? >> well, it looks like you have to scale back on inappropriate senn app sis. most of the work in brain science has been on making new senn app sis, for learning and appropriate behaviour, including social behaviour, losing the correct senn app sis is just as important. >> what is an inappropriate senn app sis? >> well, there could be a lot of examples. one of them is that in children with autism, there's a high incidence of epileptic seizures, that's because you would have lost senn app sis causing that. >> pruned a term meaning you lose sen app sis. >> that's right. like pruning branches on a tree. if we prune those, decreasing them, if we decrease the right ones, we may decrease the connections allowing the seizure

to spread. if it's not occurring normally, it could be a reason that seizure is high. 50% of kids maybe. >> what was interesting is that you studied mice. what did you learn from the mice that you didn't learn from the human brain. we are not pretending that mice are autistic. the thing is that we can't do experiments on people where we are changing genetics. we take one of the genes - there are hundreds of genes that can scaus autism. different mutations. a large fraction of the human genome appears to be altered in a small fraction each time of kids with autism. we can't ethically do these experiments on people. what we do is take a mutation that can cause autism in people and express it in mice. when we do that, we find two

things, first, that the mice don't prune their sin app sis, and they have unusual behaviours. they will not play with other mice on inanimate objects. then we find that we can treat the mice - we have worked out a biochemical pathway that is probably responsible for the lack of pruning. we can treat the mice, get the pruning of sin app sis and recovery of mouse behaviour. we can cure something like autism in mice, can we do it with people? >> thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> street vendors have been a part of cities all around the world. in nepal the government ordered them off the streets in the capital kathmandu. the out of work vendors demand that politicians find them other work. >> reporter: the police in kathmandu clear the streets of

hawkers and other vendors. the inspector does his rounds six days a week. >> translation: the government doesn't allow vendors. we clear them out, even if we have to use force. >> it's like a game of hide and seek, but the stakes are higher. the ministry introduced the law in february. >> translation: the government has to look at moving towards planned development and we can't let anything obstrackt the course development is for all. you can't abuse others rights for your own. >> reporter: as evening sets in, vendors set up. nonnone of the vendors set up shop. if the goods are confiscated they have to pay a fine. despite the risk, they have to work here until the government provide them with an alternative venue. we met a man who pedals cheap clothes. she says that vendors are doubly

victimized because they have to pay shopkeepers to sell their wares outside shop windows. >> translation: whether the vendors earn money, they have to pay rent. vendors negotiate with the government to give them options. the unemployment rate in nepal is more than 40%. if they can't tell the goodes, she can't provide for the children. they have to wait for municipal officers to leave. it's seven in the evening. the officers finally leave. it's getting dark fast. as the light fades, so does the hope of making money. >> let's get a look at the temperatures across the country with meteorologist kevin corriveau. >> it will be a scorcher for many. heatwave conditions across the central planes. we are seeing 71. later today this is what we are

looking at. wichita, you'll go up to 100, oklahoma city at 100, and the heat index will feel more than 105 and 110. we have the watchers and warnings. we are on the heat. we need to say caution. we have advisories and effect. it's a dangerous situation. >> thank you so much. >> over in mexico scientists are trying to figure out what caused a crack there, snack dap in the middle of a desert. that is noorl two-thirds of a mile long and 25 feed deep. some believe an earthquake this month could be to blame. others argue that it was caused by an underground stream eroating the ground above it. stay tuned. tomorrow morning on al jazeera, president obama taking the ha for the timing of his martha's vineyard summer vacation, all that and more coming up in the

weekend politics segment. that will do it here in new york. the latest on the fighting coming up from the news room from doha. and president mahmoud abbas calling for peace talks. canisters of gas... >> a fractured community demands answers >> what do we want? >> justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> faul lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> there blocking the door... >> ground breaking... >> truth seeking... >> we have to get out of here... award winning investigative documentary series... special episode ferguson: city under siege only on al jazeera america

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premiers september 7th only on al jazeera america >> welcome to the al jazeer al jazeera news hour. coming up in the next 60 minutes. as the death toll in gaza continues to rise they resume peace fire talks. violence in iraq leave dozens dead. drough