>> if you don't go to college you gonna be stuck here... i don't wanna be stuck here. >> catch the whole ground-breaking series. "edge of eighteen". thanksgiving marathon. friday. 9:00 am eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> this is al jazeera america, live from new york city, i'm tony harris, with a look at today's top stories. breaking news. the grand jury has reached a decision in the case of a ferguson, missouri, police officer. defense secretary chuck hagel resigns. and on the eve of a deal, talks are extend with iran seven more months. and we begin with breaking news

out of ferguson, missouri, the grand jury has reached a decision on whether to indict darren wilson in the shooting of michael brown. robert ray joins us live from clayton missouri near ferguson with more. robert. >> tony, good afternoon, behind me the justice center in clayton where the grand jury has been going over the evidence for the past three and a half months and as you say a decision has been reached. we should clarify what that means for the viewers. the grand jury has made a decision as to whether or not they should hand up an indictment to a criminal court, then the court process will go through and decide whether or not the officer, darren wilson, criminally shot 18-year-old michael brown. so this is just the process of the u.s. government, and how it works, so we are awaiting that

decision. now, if there is -- the decision is not to hand it up to the criminal court what that is called is a no true bill. that means officer darren wilson is a he free man. he doesn't need to be taken to a criminal court. as we are told by the brown family attorneys and people here in the ferguson and st. louis metro area, to be honest with you, tony, letting out a gasp, glad there is a decision either way. and we heard michae michael bros mother over the weekend, walking with demonstrators overnight, calling for calm no matter what the grand jury decision is this holiday week. tony. >> how long has this investigation by the grand jury been going on and is the indication here that it has been an exhaustive investigation? by that i mean anything that had a material nature add to this

investigation has had an opportunity to testify? >> well, exactly. ettes been a long exhausting -- it's been a long exhausting scenario over three and a half months. the shooting did occur on august 9th and the violence and looting that occurred in the weeks following and about as many witnesses as there were possible out there gave their evidence and their testimony to that grand jury and even officer darren wilson. that's actually quite a rare thing for person that is under the fire so to speak to go and talk to a grand jury in person. so this is -- they've been given every ample amount of evidence. but one interesting thing is the prosecuting attorney for st. louis, bob mccullough, here is my suggest to you, 12 members of the grand jury as to what should occur. well he didn't give a suggestion. he didn't say, i think perhaps

you should look at charging him or taking this -- or suggesting that it go to a criminal court. he gave no suggestion. what he did is he laid out all the evidence over the course of the past three months, essentially putting it in their lap to make the decision. if you look at that, that's not usually the way it works for a grand jury, tony. >> you know and the other point to make here is, this is a grand jury that's been looking at the possibility of indicting officer wilson on state charges. there is also a federal process that is playing out as well. >> exactly. exactly. i mean you know, darren wilson, right now, what we don't know is whether he's been taken into custody. because if he's -- if the grand jury's decision is to charge him, or suggest charges to the criminal court, then darren wilson is being taken right now by the contractua criminal coure

speak. and sparse the federal investigation goes -- as far as the federal investigation goes, attorney general eric holder was here back in august. this is a national event here today and this decision, whichever way it goes, will have a lot of implications on many levels, here socially and through the justice courts. >> robert ray we appreciate it. john terret is live in ferguson. john i hear horns honking but what kind of preparations are happening there ahead of the enormous anonymity of the grand jury's decision? >> hey tony good afternoon. pretty much everybody who passes by here honks their horn at the small group of protesters who are here. our cameraman ben is going to pan over here. this is a permanent protest site pretty much since the site of the protests in august. outside the ferguson police

headquarters of some protest that took place last wednesday and thursday. and there were arrests here, five people on the first night, at least two people on the second night last thursday. and the police were accused of ramping up their tactics against the protesters, being really quite aggressive towards them. so much so, in fact, last friday if you remember on your program we heard from the director of public safety in missouri who was forced to justify the tactics used by the police here. so the decision is coming down sometime in the course of the next couple of hours. that much we know. we're going to hear from the governor jay nixon. we're going to hear later from other key personnel as well. and at the moment that, the center of all this ask clayton in mrs -- is clayton outside st. louis itself. and presumably this weekend the focus will probably shift outside here ferguson itself. all police leave in ferguson has been cancelled. officers are working 12 hour

shifts. tony. >> john pu woul if you would taa moment and talk about the efforts that are underway siegely for weeks around longer than that, the training sessions that the police have been involved in and protesters have been involved in learning how to deescalate potentially violent clashes and confrontations. >> well, that's right. there's an awful lot of anger in ferguson. we don't know what the decision is going to be. we don't know what's going to happen next. but one thing we do know is that people here particularly members of the african american community are particularly angry. they are fighting for a change in the way that they are dealt with by the police. they are fighting for justice, for michael brown, and for all the other african american young men who they say have been dealt very harshly by the police. and they are also quite frankly fighting just to be treated like

normal people, right? ordinary people. they say there is a disconnect between the way white peep interact with police when they are stopped and the way that happens for african americans and they want that to change. so they've been building up protests here in the downtown in the buildup to this announcement which is now coming today. and there are activist groups here who want to protest police tactics based on what happened in august and what may happen in the coming days and weeks. and what we saw happen last wednesday and thursday. and they've been organizing groups of people to get together in union halls and church halls all over this area and people have been coming how to learn to peacefully protest police tactics and not let things get out of hand. one thing they do is chant love love love when the police charge them with batons.

and one of the events i went to was an african american pastor, at the end of it he said, look at all these white people laying their bodies down for black people. that's the tone we have as we go into whatever may happen next session. >> john terret in ferguson, missouri. let's bring in missouri state representative courtney allen curtis. thank you for your time representative curtis. thank you for your time. what are you expecting from this grand jury? >> me personally, i'm expecting a nonindictment but given fact that they've had to go back in and look at some more evidence i'm hopeful and optimistic that maybe they will come back with an indictment. there's serious issues that people have been protesting for and there's enough that needs to go to trial. >> explain to me, you said there

was a closer look. what prompted the closer look at more evidence, can you share that with us? >> that i'm not sure. i know that they have the ability to ask for and look at additional evidence. so it seems that that's what's dragged this out you know so long. so i hope there was something that caused them to come to something that the community can be at ease with and that they can actually go to trial given that's what the majority of the community wants. >> what do you think the community can be at ease with? from my time in ferguson it seems to me that nothing short of an indictment of officer wilson and this case going to trial would satisfy the community. >> likewise. i think that anything short of that would be a disappointment. but the most importantly thing is, that it doesn't end today. no matter what the announcement is. you know, there's serious changes that need to be made and i think that the protesters have shown that they're willing to go the distance. so if they don't get what

they're looking for today they'll definitely be active to make substantive changes to the system. >> and changes like with had a? >> i mean, anything from, you know, changing the makeup of the police force, assuring that they have a candidate as a prosecutor, making sure people are signed up so they can be on the grand jury, other things in terms of holding elected officials account annal and even more changes that you know call for asking for our community to do more and be more involved and to be more positive and to act accordingly. >> sounds like you would need for some of those changes to take place, you would need african americans in that community, african americans make up three quarters of that community in ferguson, to actually participate in the political process, which means going to the polls, registering first going to the polls and voting and we understand that

voter participation was not particularly impressive in the last mid term election cycle just a couple of weeks ago. >> i can't speak to actually what the ferguson participation was. what was widely quoted in the press was ferguson up to and tod that's more than the ferguson city, three communities make up ferguson township. we need all muc of our officialo go out and knock on doors. everything should change from here on out the way we get people involved in politics. we have to let them know the only way you can truly change things is being involved at every level. >> representative what do you expect from this community? there's been all kind of calls for calm and peace and restraint. if this community doesn't get the decision from this grand jury that it is looking for, what do you expect? >> you know, actually, expect

for the community, the real community that lives there, to be, you know, very peaceful. if not in their actual homes, you know, the people that come from the outside, that want to cause trouble, i expect for them to actually do that. but with all of the planning that the unified command has done, i think they should be capable of isolating those individuals and keeping it to a peaceful calm so that everybody that wants to peacefully protest can do so. and then the others you know will be isolated and dealt with. >> state representative curtis, appreciate your time. thank you. defense secretary chuck hagel announced today that he is resigning after nearly two years on the job. announcing his departure the president has praise for hagel. >> when i nominated you for this position, you said you would always give me your honest advice and informed counsel. you have when it's mattered most behind closed doors in the oval office you've always given it to

me straight and for that i will always be grateful. >> jamie mcintyre joins me live from the pentagon and today's announcement was certainly cordial, despite the reports and you can help me understand this in greater detail, reports that hagel was pressured to step down. >> the sense you get from ssh consider officials at the pentagon was that the president needed to make a shakeup in his defense are team and secretary hagel was the most out of step with the president. nonetheless, the president took pains to portray his resigning as a voluntary one not a firing. >> chuck determined having guided the department through this transition it was an appropriate time for him to complete his service. >> i will continue to support you mr. president, and the men

and women who defend this country every day. so unselfishly. and their families. what they do for our country. so unselfishly. and as i have said, and as the president noted, i will stay on this job and work judges as hard as i have over the last couple of years, every day, every moment, until my successor is confirmed by the united states senate. >> reporter: a senior defense potential say the talks between defense secretary and the president started late last month, when the subject came up what should be accomplished in the last two years of the president's term. nonetheless there was no hint that hagel was prepared to step down. just two weeks ago his spokesman said hagel had every intention of serving out the remainder of president obama's term. but when these discussions

culminating last week it was clear that the president was going to be accepting hagel's resignation. >> jamie how are people in washington reacting to hagel's departure? >> interestingly on the hill a lot of republicans who notably did not particularly embrace secretary hagel when he was being confirmed just two years ago are now rallying to his defense. hagel's nomination was confirmed with only four republican votes. but today the incoming as chairman of the senate armed services committee john mccain said hagel was frustrateby the decision making at the white house saying quote his predecessors have been talking about the excessive micromanaging from the white house, and how that made it difficult to make decisions successful, hagel no differently. they insisted senior defense

official saying it was a mutual decision not about any disagreement in policy or strategy. >> jamie mcintyre for us at the pentagon, jamie, thank you. with hagel's resignation president obama is now searching for his fourth secretary of defense. that search comes as the administration focuses on a number of challenges, from i.s.i.l. to ukraine. mike viqueria joins us. mike. >> this is the first cabinet casualty since the wipeout president obama and the democratic party suffered three weeks ago. and despite the president's attempt to make this strategy-free. >> fellow republicans. >> were you correct or incorrect, yes or no? >> my reference to the search being dangerous --

>> senator hagel -- >> his nomination by president obama came at a time of draw downs and budget cuts. >> chuck hagel is the leader our people deserve. >> he walked into a pentagon already at odds with the white house. at a recent symposium, hagel's two predecessors trashed the white house for an overbearing style. >> and it was that micromanagement that drove me crazy. >> and president obama's policies, like publicly ruling out ground troops in the fight against i.s.i.l. >> you never told your enemy what the hell you're going to do. >> hagel was charged with the pullout from afghanistan. >> i.s.i.l. is a sophisticated and well funded as any group that we have seen. they're beyond just a terrorist

group. >> reporter: along with a new attorney general, hagel's departure leaves president obama with another high profile post to fill and dependent on a gop senate majority to confirm his choices. speculation has centered on two names that have surfaced before. michelle flornoy and ashton carter. both previous undersecretaries in the obama administration. the president put the best face on chuck hagel's rocky 10 you're. >> when it's mattered most, in the white house, you have always given it to me straight and for that i will always be grateful. >> and tony the republicans are really piling on the president today, his foreign policies and policy towards iraq. it should be noted mccain raked hagel over the coals, today he's defending hagel and the chairman of the house armed services committee says it's time for the president to ask

now that he's going to be on his fourth defense secretary, is it them or sit me. >> mike viqueria, thank you. progress on the most difficult issues, that's how secretary of state john kerry described nuclear talks with iran shortly after extending the deadline for a deal. negotiators for iran and six world powers agreed to extend negotiations for seven months but there is a catch. political framework must be settled by march or chance he of a settlement will fall through. nick schifrin joins us. negotiators have run out of time but is it fair to say that two sides are actually closer than ever before? >> let's put it this way tony. ten years ago, the united states and the west found that iran was secretly creating a nuclear program. for the last year that program has been frozen and rolled back. that is narrative that the u.s. is putting out and that is the narrative that continues because the interim deal, basically,

maintains iran's program being frozen and very, very small sanctions relief, only a few billion dollars compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars that iran stansdz to gain in the long -- stands to gain in the long run. so yes, compared to years ago, the u.s. and iran are on much, much better solid footing in terms of the relationship and the this nuclear deal than ever before. we don't know the details of what progress they've made but secretary kerry said absolutely words close as we've ever been. >> i can tell you that progress was indeed made on some of the most vexing challenges that we face. and we now see the path toward potentially resolving some issues, that have been i intractable. >> they may see the path tony but the question is, is iran getting sanctions relief fast enough, clearly not. and is the u.s. and the west

getting a reduced capacity, is iran agreeing to reduce capacity in terms of enrichment to create a bomb, obviously not. the most pressing issues are still very much pressing but the two sides decide to save it for another day. >> nick, secretary kerry talked about the world being safer when the interim deal was signed. how so? >> reporter: yeah, basically it's that the iranian program remains frozen. capacity for iran to break out it's called to basically make a weapon if it wanted to. that remains in the area of about four months to nine months. that's not aas high as anybody wants it and the ultimate agreement will get it above 12 months. but the fact is that that number is absolutely static and there are proposals to increase it clearly being discussed on the table but again the details just simply haven't been agreed to. >> appreciate it, nick schifrin, thank you. controversy today after police in cleveland killed a 12-year-old boy who was carrying

a beebee gun that looked a lot like a pistol, details next.

>> controversy today after a 12-year-old boy was shot by police in cleveland. police say he was waving a toy

gun that looked real. roxana saberi has more on the story. roxana. >> tony, police say the weapon tamir rie liz had wair reilly hs undistinguishable from a real gun. but police didn't have to shoot to kill him. >> a guy with a pistol, like pointing it as everybody. >> in this 911 call on saturday a witness told cleveland police a juvenile was sitting on a swing in a park pointing a gun at people. >> it's probably fake but you know what? he's pointing it. >> when officers arrived they ordered him to raise his hands. the young man pulled the weapon out and that's when the officer fired. >> he was hit in the torso and died at a nearby hospital on saturday morning. they are not sure if the 911

dispatcher told the officers the weapon might be fake. >> i have not reviewed that, the actual dispatch from the dispatcher into that car, i have not personally reviewed that. >> they say it was an air soft beebee gun like this. the orange tip that identifies replicas was missing. >> the fac facsimile weapon in s incident is indistinguishable from a real firearm. but we need to drive home from our kids especially that guns are not toys. parents need to be aware of that. >> two police officers are now on administrative leave as the investigation continues. anger is building for some local residents and they're calling for the police to get more training. >> did he threaten the officers? no. >> the shooting comes three months after police in the city of beaver creek, ohio shot and killed a 22-year-old man at owalmart as he carried a pellet gun he got from the store's

shelves. an ohio state representative is now introducing a bill that would call for closer markings on guns but already, guns are marked with orange safety indicators, they could be painted to look like real weapons as this home video shows. cleveland police say they have a video that clearly shows what happened but won't say whether they'll release it. once there's a grand jury, there is they're prepared in case there is unrest resulting from the shooting. in case any protests from there would spread to cleveland. >> okay, makes sense. roxana, appreciate it, thank you. out of ferguson, missouri, the grand jury has decided whether or not to indict darren wilson.

plus fallout at the university of virginia, after an article unfolds a history of gang rape on campus. now students are speaking out.

>> we are following breaking news out of ferguson, missouri, we are expecting at least two news conferences coming up today, tonight, one from the governor's office and prosecuting attorney's office. lori jane gliha ins j joins us m clayton, missouri. what is the information you're getting from the ground there in clayton. >> yes, tony ed mcgee who is the prosecuting attorney's assistant sent out a press release, we are about to get an

update on when the announcement is going to be made. i got an update from a police officer, several police departments said the announcement was going to be made around 8:00, although we haven't gotten the official word from the prosecutor's office. there are a lot of people mobilizing preparing for what's going to happen tonight. i just got off the phone with the ferg ferguson mayor. he's not sure what time that press conference is going to be and to be ons with you he said i have three speeches prepared for tonight. he is trying to announce to the community what is going to move forward, what is the future of ferguson. he's not sure what's going to happen tonight, he will be giving a press conference. all these weeks i have been talking to protesters and activists, rasheen aldridge says

he'sing planning to meet with a group of the other activists and talk about the best place for them to go tonight. he's talked about that either way, regardless whatever happens whatever the announcement is, there's going to be something happening on the street, celebrating or protesting, they plan to be vocal. we've seen protesters outside the ferguson police department many times this week but he also discussed the possibility of going to the shaw location, a police shooting and killed around a similar time around mike brown. a lot of plans and mobilization but uncertainty when we will get the announcement. >> sounds like we have at least three news conferences. i don't know if we have heard anything from the family. now we're talking about something from the mayor's office, the governor's office and the prosecuting attorney's office later, as the announcement of the decision is made public. so lori here's what i want to know. you've been talking to these

activists and my time in ferguson it was clear to me that people there in the community who were upset would not be satisfied with anything less than some kind of an indictment of officer wilson. now, in the intervening months, has the opinion changed? has that stance softened? could there be a no-bill, and no violence later this evening? >> reporter: i think many of the protesters out here, i mean that's what they've been asking for from the beginning is they would like to see an indictment of darren wilson, we've seen the signs being held up, indictment, the twitter symbol, the hashtag, "indict darren wilson." this has become a large movement and it's not just about this issue anymore. it's not just about this one

instance. so i think people are planning to be vocal and to be vocal about making a change and changing the system. >> lori let me jump in and ask you, sure, let me jump in and ask you the question directly. you've been reporting that there have been courses, there have been training sessions on how to deescalate situations. will we see some kind of evidence of that work this evening, once this announcement is made public? >> reporter: well, i think a lot of the protesters, have certainly, the people we have spoken to have certainly vowed to keep things peaceful and we've also heard from the police department, like you said, they've been doing first amendment trainings, 14th amendment trainings, they've also encouraged themselves and others to be peaceful. i think that's the goal for everybody. so far with the protests we've

seen this week they have been largely peaceful so i don't think we should expect anything different. there are preparation on the police end and the protesters end. back in august we did see a time when things did turn a little bit dangerous and stores were looted. i think people are preparing for this kind of things. but largely people are focused on keeping things peaceful and moving forward in a productive peaceful way. >> yet we know our experience in this business informs you that there are still likely to be knuckle heads who take this moment regardless of a decision to stir up trouble we certainly saw that in august. >> of course. yeah. and there's always going to be people that come in and you never know what's going to happen and you also don't know what's going to happen based on what this decision is going to be. people can react very quickly when something happens. so i think people are aware of

that, police are prepared for that, the protesters have said themselves if they see something getting violent, they have plans to go and address those types of things to help people deescalate and get to a safe place, if they have anything on either side, and that's the difference between what happened now and in august, there is a large organization on both sides that may help to prevent that. >> lori jane gliha, forgive me for 80for jumping in. that's what i do. important day so nuts and bowles here, what is this grand jury doing? >> they are deciding whether or not to charge darren wildz with four possible charges. murder, second degree murder, first or second, manslaughter or

involuntary manslaughter. highly unusual. a prosecutor chooses a charge and goes in and asks the grand jury to proceed on a theory of the case that the prosecutor is arguing for. that's not what they've done here. >> why? >> because bob mccullough i think wanted to say to the people of missouri, and the people of ferguson, look i gave this grand jury all of the evidence, and all of the potential charges. >> wide latitude. >> i let them put the facts and the law together and come back with what they decided was the appropriate result. this is the first time he said in his 20 years as a prosecutor he's ever done it that way. first time i've ever seen it done that way, highly unusual way to proceed before a grand jury. >> is he opening himself up for criticism, one way or another if the grand jury doesn't come back with an indictment?

>> either way -- >> you did not express a view of this case? >> that's right. but i certainly could have opened himself up to criticism if he proceeded on a theory in the case and failed. i think all the analysts agree that it's not likely to be a first degree murder charge. where people are less certain is what it is likely to be on any of those other charges. >> and i would imagine -- well let me ask you this question. what are your thoughts on how the grand jury has gone about its business to the extent we know look it's been a three and a half month -- that's a long time right? >> another highly unusual time, extraordinarily long for a grand jury to stay out on a particular case, extremely long. >> does that say to you that it has been an exhaustive investigation that anyone deemed to have anything to contribute, of significance, to this process, to this story, to this case cam has had an opportunity to present that testimony? >> it seems so. i mean generally, both sides don't get a fair hearing in

front of a jury. you got bang the door down to get in there. but it seems that you've heard, for example, michael baldwin presented his evidence. they've had two pathologists present evidence. two have actually examined the body in this case but one for the feds we haven't had this yet, an extraordinary settle of circumstances. i think that bodes well for the legitimacy of the results of this case. earlier on the show you heard expressed the view that well maybe this is more hopeful that they've taken their time with this evidence. but i have to say tony, that whatever the result here, there's going to be some questions cast often what this grand jury does. -- on what this grand jury does it's confidential. mccullough has said if the grand jury chooses not to diet t he will perhaps with the

approval of the judge, to make this grand jury's conclusions public. all of that being said, this is going to be one of those very controversial results. because let's say we go to trial. then we have to live through all of this all over again. right? >> yeah which is what the community is clamoring for. but let me ask you about a separate track here. this is also being looked at by the federal authorities. >> that's exactly right for civil rights violations. >> so the federal government could bring some action even, and how likely is this? that a grand jury might not indict. >> that's right. >> could a federal process lead to charges -- >> they could. >> but is it likely or -- >> that is like the case we used to see in the old days right? >> the old days? >> the civil rights cases in the old days where the feds would come in because it was felt the

local authorities had not pursued the case appropriately. we are now looking at the case for violation of michael brown's civil rights. >> everything we're hearing seem to suggest that's not likely to happen. >> so far. they're pretty close lipped about it. they wait to see what happens on the state level. so i don't know what we're going to see out of the feds. i think we're going to wait and see what happens on the state level fishes and then the feds will weigh in or they won't. >> bunch of other issues to take up with you jamie. hope you can stick around. jamie floyd, stick around with me if you are up for it. >> all right. >> president obama is shaping up his cabinet as he mirrors his last two years on the job. >> it's been the greatest privilege of my life, to lead and most important to serve, to serve with the men and women of the defense department and support their families.

i am immensely proud of what we have accomplished during this time. >> president obama praised hagel's leadership. hagel's departure comes amid possibility of problems. al jazeera national security j.j. he groon. it's been j.j. green. what is your assessment? >> it's a relationship that wasn't working. people often leave administrations, especially a two term administration, they often leave those administrations in the second term and sometimes they leave before the end of the term, to position themselves for better opportunities. as you heard hagel say you know this has been th the greatest privilege of my life he's looking ahead. this was a relationship that was rocky and often left him frustrated and left the

administration unsatisfied. so something had to give. and from what i've been hearing from my sources is that the sooner the better that it came to an end. >> so was he pushed out? >> without a doubt. >> okay. >> but they won't say it on the white house side. and he would not say it on his side either. but the bottom line on it is he had ever expectation of fulfilling this expectation. because again he said this was the privilege of his lifetime to do this. but the problem that he was running into was he was having disagreements with senior folks in the administration who thought differently about strategy and of course tactics. and he being the kind of individual that he is, wanted things to work a different way. and he very much like others who have left the administration in the past were frustrated about the level of management that he was having to be subjected to in order to get these things done. so yes, it is pretty clear he was asked to leave. >> so j.j. here is a question:

what do you think of the timing of the announcement, given the issue of ebola in west africa, and the i.s.i.l. issue in syria and iraq? >> when i asked this question a little while ago, there is hope they can fill that position perhaps even before the end of the year. and the individual i was speaking to who is a person connected to the administration said essentially, you'd like to make these kinds of changes right around the election. so it really was something perhaps they were hoping to have done couple of weeks ago. so i think they are hoping to get someone in before the new congress but certainly as soon as possible. >> so we have four secretaries of defense in four years. what kind of a message, and i guess is it a negative message that's being sent to members of the armed forces and maybe to

adversaries? >> adversaries are getting from this okay, you have four different secretaries of defense within this time frame. what does that say about their preparedness to deal with strategic surprise? you know the dia is responsible for preventing strategic surprise by collecting intelligence but there are those that would say there are strategic surprises in the last few years so adversaries are wondering about the change in all these leaders. are they positioning the department of defense, to best prepare for strategic surprise and adversaries are saying, this might be an opportunity to take advantage of any chaos any disconnect or any dizzy dysfunc, the message is we need to cross our ts and dot our is so we are not vulnerable during this time of change in

administration. troops were supposed to limit operations at the end of this year, president approved new guidelines allowing them oengage taliban and al qaeda fighters. this comes as afghanistan deals with two deadly attacks in two days. officials say two people were killed, today, in attacks, in kunduz province, after a volleyball tournament in pakistan. headlines across america, inests is here with us. >> officials say his death does not mean there was specific intent in the shooting. a rookie police officer was patrolling a being staircase

when his being weapon discharged. a confession of aa 60-year-old man, the somewhere did not determine whether the confession was true just that it was obtained legally. attorneys for him say his confession was imaginary. teen admitting he fell asleep while driving his family down an interstate highway, six family members were ejected from the car, five died. district attorney jerry jones said he found it unnecessary to add to the family tragedy by pressing charges. and a california teenage are said she was dragged by a swimming pool by her gym teacher. a classmate used a cell phone to

tape the teacher trying oforce her into the pool for more than a minute and a half. >> i had stopped myself on the stairs thinking he would stop. he grabbed me by my ankles and tried to pull me down. i was saying, stop leave me alone you can't be touching me. >> the teacher was charged with a misdemeanor and placed on paid leave after the video went viral in august. sandra garcia and her mother are prepared to take the district to court. >> what is going on there? i know ines you're back a while later. >> an article detailing gang rape on the campus, students are speaking out about the school's decision. the school's governing body will meet discussing how this will move forward. lisa stark is live in

washington. >> tony, most are pleased that the fraternity and sorority activities are suspended for now. it gives the university time to take stock and figure out what to do next. this was all based on a horrific account of an alleged gang rape that took place add a university fraternity party in 2012. >> uva, one of the country's top universities, steeped in a code that prevents lying cheating and stealing. but a different picture of the prestigious university. reporting that drinking is widespread and sexual assault far too common, especially at fraternity parties. the article's author told al jazeera america that the school was very uncooperative and would not allow her access to key administrators.

>> i think they have known for a great time that a great alarm was done to this student and a number of students. i think the onlying reason they are taking action now is because great harm has been done to its reputation and that has always been paramount to them. >> protests on campus. students demanding that the administration crack down on sexual violence. when they did have the courage to report assaults the school rarely took strong action against perpetrators. monday at a news conference of student leaders the head of uva's sexual assault group says the campus needs to change. culturally and institutionally. >> we as students in the role we play we are here saying, we are unified against this issue. now the ball is in your court. >> the fraternity at the heart of the issue,if, phi kappa psi.

activities are suspended until the beginning of the semester. >> i was shocked, it was horrific. >> asked anyone who knows what happened that night to come forward. >> that does cast a negative light on the fraternity culture and a lot of the people i know and am friends with, i think it's for best that the article was written and that people have to really face sort of the harsh reality of what is going on. >> a reality that some students say has been swept under the rug far too long. now uva is one of 88 universities nationwide that's under investigation by the department of education, which

is looking at how these universities handle sexual assault cases and complaints, and tony, rolling stone is reporting that in fact uva is one of a smaller group 12 universities that is getting extra scrutiny by the federal government. >> lisa, i understand there's an independent investigation into uva's policies. what can you tell us about that? >> well, that will be launched, the university though will choose that investigator, however the attorney general for virginia will also have a say in it. they want that independent attorney or judge to take a look at the policies, see if they're strong enough, see what needs to be done to strength be them. tony. >> lisa stark in washington,. coming up, massive melting in new york. officials in the state say residents may need to evacuate. plus an unbelievable catch by an nfl player that has gone viral.

>> so after a record snowfall in buffalo new york, there are fears of widespread flooding. mild temperatures are melting seven feet of snow. snow weight might cause roofs to collapse. residents should be ready to evacuate. >> yes we are on guard.

yes we are very conscious of what damage this particular issue can do. keep a wafl watchful eye and we are doing the best we can with the resources that we have. >> my goodness, that's a lot of snow. kevin is here with the weather conditions in the area. kevin. >> well tony, we have seen a lot of rain go through, rain on top of the snow, temperatures in the high 50s across the region. the rain pretty much is done with. we do have some rain to the west, that flooding all the way down from erie county to the counties to the south. with that we have wind. so wind with 55° weather, that is going to melt that snow very, very quickly as well. take a look at the temperatures, 50s as well, but tomorrow we are going to go back to freezing

and we do expect to see by the time we get omid week, look at those low temperatures. so anything that melts we are going to refreeze which is going to make a difficult dangerous situation for many people. >> kevin, thank you. it is being called the catch of the year. did you see it? and social media is going wild with it. ines, is here with it. ines. >> here is it, let's show it, oh del becker jr. >> come on young fella! >> even the announcer says, how do you make a catch like that! >> with three fingers. >> and for a touchdown. it looks impossible and the expwrnt went tinternet went to e way, things o del could catch or the golden ring in lord of the rings or even here, touching the

hand of god in michelangelo's creation of adam. and lebron james -- >> who is he? lebron. i got you. >> i just witnessed the greatest catch ever by odel becker jr. beckham jr. it upstaged everything else. >> it kind of did didn't it? coming up, continued coverage of the breaking news out of ferguson, missouri, the grand jury has made a decision on whether to indict officer darren wilson. they are set to make that announcement sometime later tonight. we are back with more in two minutes time. this is al jazeera america.

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>> this is al jazeera america live from new york. >> talks over the nuclear program are extended seven months. >> yes win with breaking news out of ferguson, missouri.