me at amoratv. we will see you next time. >> in this "al jazeera america." i am john seeingenthaler. >> the relationship between police and community has to change. >> calls for change. new york's plan to retrain the nation's largest police force as protests spread across the country. >> i can't breathe. >> in custody, an american stabbed to death in abu dhabi, the female suspect and why police say she did it. flu advisor, the cdc warning about this year's vaccine. how effective is it?

moonshot. a hunk of the moon to hold in your hands could be worth a billion dollars. >> big companies are risking big bucks in the new race for outer space. question begin with new nationwide protests. they follow a new york grand jury decision not to indictment a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man. looking at live pictures from times square where protesters, some were arrested tonight. they have shut down highways to the brooklyn bridge, the west side highway and protests continue in new york at this hour. protesters in washington. >> they chanted in front of the washington monument while others marched in boston n oakland, california, minneapolis, pittsburgh and denver. this, as u.s.a. reports tonight, the officer who putteric garner in a chokehold had been sued three times in connection with the arrest did of three other black people. new york city is getting ready to retrain its police force.

paul beban joins us live from new york. paul? >> john, i am downtown in foley's square, the seat of norm's judicial system here this is also where the crowds gathered tonight for probably the evening's biggest protest. in the square behind me, we had three to 5,000 people. earther tonight, we just had a couple of hundred more come marching back tlum, part of the roaming bands of smaller protesters that grew up tonight as the billinger protests broke part into smaller groups. one group, a large contingent a couple of hours ago we want over the brooklyn bridge, down on both sides for part of the evening at least, a couple of thousand people across the bridge into brooklyn and they moved around downtown brooklyn to the barclay center. other landmarks in brook line. some then returns that's this group here they went down and shut down the holland tunnel for part of the time. tlef gone up to time square. it's been a little more

confrontational there so another long night of protests all as the city tries to is come to terms with this grand jury decision. >> the relationship between police and community has to change. the way we go about policing has to change. it has to change in the city. it has to change in this country. i am fundamentally convinced it will change. >> new york city's mayor says a full retraining the nypd will start this month. bill diblasio says he supports his commissioner's plan to overhaul the way officers interact with the community. >> they are asking for the notion of a society in which everyone is treated equally. it's a fundamental american value. >> the retraining was announced earlier this year in the wake of the death of eric garner. diblasio spoke a day after a grand jury declined to indictment new york police officer dan dwell panteleo in garner's death. a have i yes appears to show him

use a banned choke hold his officer said he used a legal move to take garner to the ground, a move that's taught by the police department. the police union says officers are not getting support from city hall. >> we did not here that you cannot go out and break the law. what we did not hear is that you cannot resist arrest. >> many say they are doing their jobs and politicians have thrown them under the bus. >> police officers do not have objections to walk away. if the mayor wants to change policies and wants us to stand down against crime, say that. it's his policy that we go out and we enforce and the laws of the state. >> new york city police commission bill bratton says the new training will require 22 ,000 police officers to go

through a three-day course. it will be modeled on the periodic firearms training required for all officers. the department says officers will taught how to deescalate conflicts, improve problem solving skills and use non-judgmental postures. but some criminal justice experts say retraining officers is a tall order. it's hard to retrain a large force or a smaller force when certain skills are embedded in behavioral patterns. it requires a tremendous amount of resources. >> the mayor said the department would get advice from community leaders to help police interact better with minority groups. >> people need to know that black lives and brown lives matter as much as white lives. it's what we still have to aspire to. >> john, this evening again, things here in foley square, but

as you can see. grand jury, small moving vans, periodically disrupting traffic. potential i will a very long night ahead for police here in new york. john? >> paul beban. i want to inthous attorney john burns who is in washington, d.c. jop, before we get started, i want to show our viewers a life picture from boston tonight a cogfrontation in the streets of boston where there are protesters. protestors have been out all night. it looks like they have surrounded a car there and police are out in force near boston common. john, just let me get your reaction to what you are seeing on the second night of sort of the response fowhat the grand jury did in new york. >> i think people are upset. people are outraged people are calling for action. i think it's really compelling to see diversity of races and

cultures and political affiliations. i think everybody is outraged with that decision of no indictment in the eric garner case and they are making their voices heard. >> what does this accomplish, though? >> i think it accomplishes a number of different things. i think over the history of our country, we have seen that action in terms of unified action can really institute change. i think you have already seen it happening obviously the mayor came out and said he was going to retrain the police force. i think that's a first step and ultimately having more substantial change over time. >> the police force going to be retrained is out in the industries of the city of new york tonight dealing with protesters. what do they need to know? what needs to be retrained about those officers? >> i think you look at what the mayor proposed. he is a very comprehensive proposal in terms of their commutation indication, their

ability to be. a number of different things. it's not going to be an overhaul of their training. not a comprehensive overhaul. only a 3-day training regimen. a problem exists. the commissioner did the same i think that's very telling. i think it's a big step for them both to acknowledge a problem and based upon what they said, they are committing to make appropriate steps forward to incorrect these wrongs. >> other than retraining what else needs to change? the biggest hurdle for the new york police department and police departments across the country is to reconcile this mistrust communities of color have with the police department. this has been engarained over zenrations. it will take time. i applaud the may ors efforts in taking some of the early steps to rectify that wrong. >> stand by just a second.

a major city will be under a court appointed monitor. a justice department said cleveland's police department uses action sessive force and needs immediate reform. it follows the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy. senior washington correspondent mike viqueira is at the whitehouse. >> reporter: the cleveland police have engaged in a pattern and practice of unreasonable and excessive force by the civil rights division into the cleveland police department. the results, something called a consent decree where both parties, the police department and the department of justice, agree that the doj can go in to reform and restrublcture and tr to end this pattern and practice of excessive force that they have found after the investigation in cleveland. shots fired resulting in the

death of two videos. in cleveland to make the announcement he mentioned the incidents of tamir wright, a 12-year-old boy shot while holding a toy gun. an officer mistaking it for a real gun. >> the shooting death of .12-year-old tamir wright here in cleveland have urraised urge questions and sparked a conversation about the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and the communities that they serve and protect. >> john, the investigation that rudin this agreement with the cleveland police recall that holder, a couple of months, announced that the criminal division, civil rights addition, i should say to see if they have engaged in excessive force.

2309 second did a nay row unrelated to the incident in ferguson, stat event island and elsewhere spoke to the need to establish trust between la enforcement and the communities they serve. listen. >> beyond the specific issue that has to be addressed, making sure that peep have confidence, that police and law enforcement and prosecutors are serving everybody equally, there is the larger question. restoring a sense of common pur. >> john, president obama again reminding the crowd that he has undertaken initiative to form a commission to look into what can be done to employed trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. >> mike viqueira, thank you. let me bring in john burns as we take a look at the point to the entrance to the manhattan bridge which is apparently being closed off by protesters. that's where police are right in and out. john, let's talk cleveland for a

second. what are the next steps? what will a court appointed monitor do obviously just make sure that everyone is held accountable, that the reform is moving forward in the proper procedures are in place that make sure that all of these individuals in terms of the excessive force is no longer a problem in cleveland. i think the steps are being taken and the steps in place to make sure the top end occurs in the way it needs to occur. >> albuquerque, seattle, detroit, other cities have had this happen to them. major american cities, what does that indicate to you? >> that indicates that there is a precedent here attorney general holter is very knowledgeable. he has been aggressive in making sure there is no unjust treatment of americans. you cleared have four cities that already have similar type consents degree krooez and change has been institute cle land has been willing to adopt some of these changes to ensure

there was no longer excessive force. >> what sort of damage has this done? has this done more damage to the relationship between the minority community and the police department in the last week or is it just the same? >> i argue to the contrary. i think it actually really made the relationship bolossom becaue you are holding the police officers accountable. for the longest time, many minority communities felt like they were on their own. no one stood for them. you see the president speaking out. you see the attorney general speaking out in alignment making sure procedures are in place that will present this conduct moving forward. >> as we watch these forwards, how long can they be sustained? >> you know, that's my biggest concern. oh, my goodness, at some point, this 24 hour news cycle will end. the protest will end. i do think in i

think we have to ensure that this will continue to happen. >> john burns, again, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you, john. >> in south carolina this week, a grand jury handed up a very different decision in the case of a former police chief who is white. an orangeburg county grand jury indicted richard combs on wednesday. he is accused of killing a black man he was trying to arrest in 2011. it was a rare case of a grand jury indicting a police officer. we get more from randall pinkston. >> like most of america's legal system, gjz came frommege land a group of citizenship tasked with

allegations of crime to stop processing cutors from putting innocent people on trial. some legal experts say time has changed? >> the grand jury is -- i don't want to demean their service. the prosecutors say this is the evidence. this is what we want you to do and for the most part, gjz don't have a reason to does trust that. >> 25 years ago, new york state's chief judge argued the power of prosecutors made grand juries unnecessary. in a "new york times" article, judge saul walker said the grand jury is wasteful and pointless and the grand jury is by design a one-sided affair with the prosecutor in control. today, law professor dave powell says that still holds true. >> the prosecute ors legal advisor he explains or she explains how the facts make out the elements. >> how does a prosecute ors decision impact the grand jury's decision? >> basically the patriot prosecute controls the grand

jury. >> usually prosecutors present just enough evidence to get an indictment. in controversial cases involving the use of force by police, eric garner in new york, michael brown in ferguson, missouri, they say they have a different perspective? >> they might use the grand jury. but the grand jury boded a no true bill. i am doing my job on protecting society, but the grand jury has spoken. >> the entire grand jury proceeding takes place in secret. new york is one of 22 states that still require the use ofgns. the rest of the state except pennsylvania which abolish them make gjz optional, relying instead on public preliminary hearings to determine if cases should go to trial. >> we do have a strong message in our society that, you know, when somebody wearing blue uses deadly force, that's justified. and the law should not be above the law. if we had preliminary hearings

where a judge heard an adverse earlier process, we might very well end up with finding the probable cause in please cases. >> legal experts say public preliminary hearings might en gender more trust in the legal system. randall pinchston, al jazeera. >> we will get back to this story at the bottom of the hour. we have much more to talk about. defense secretary chuck hagel we want into more detail about his resignation. president obama had said it was a mutual decision after the two people talked private. since the announcement, many washington observers have speclated hagel was pushed out, that the president had lost confidence in his ability to lead the fight against isil. well, today, chuck hagel denied that that was the reason he stepped down. this was a mutual decision based upon the discussions that we had. i don't think there is ever one

overriding or defining decision in situations like this unless there is some obvious issue, and there wasn't, between either one of us. >> the president will announce hagel's replacement tomorrow. in the arabian pennsylvania pins has announced a new video of a kidnapped american, 3-year-old who luke somes cap toured in yemen in 2013. special forces attempted to rescue him last week. eight hostages were rescued but sommers had been moved from that location. the group does not issue any specific demands. still t they threaten to kill somers in three days. a new department of defense report said military sexual assaults were down. out going defense secretary hagel said a lot more work to be done. jamey mcintire has is that story. >> out going defense secretary chuck hagel hailed the report he sentence to the president as showing improvement in the way the military handle did sexual

assault in the ranks but not enough. >> sexual assault threatened lives and wellbeing of the women and the men who 7 our country in uniform. >> the report includes arand corporation survey of 145,000 serve service members. the numbers suggest a decrease in the late of servicemen and women who say they have been sexually assaulted over the past two years down from over six % to women to just over 4%. the report also says among those who say they were assaulted, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of victims actually willing to come forward up from 10% to 25%. hagel's directive orders a multi-year study of rescue factors, new training for junior officers and civilian bosses and strict rules to prevent retaliation against vict ims. critics such as kyrsten jillbrand says that does nothing to keep from overturning juries returned by military juries arre

after a fair trial. >> victims don't feel justice is possible. thefysasn within the change of command is so pressure land t makes the victim feel she has no chance of justice. she feels like she has support as saw a rapist he convicted reinstated by his superior officer. >> the rapist boss should not be the one determining the fate of the victim's case. >> jillbrand's efforts fell 5 votes short in the senate. she is hoping the lack of progress will help convince her colleagues to pass the legislation this time around. john. >> house republicans took aim today, president obama's immigration reforms. they passed a bill to nullify the executive actions he signed last month. republicans say the president lacks the authority to take those actions. his plan would stop the sdportation of millions of undowd workers. the white house says the bill would tear families apart.

but it probably won't get very far. the senate is expected to vote the bill down. coming up on this broadcast, why nasa was forced to delay the test launch of its orion shuttle plus dozens of drivers rescued in california after being stranded by flash floods.

>> 40 people were rescued from a

flash flood in california today. several feet of mud and washington trapped motorists inside their cars after three days of heavy rain in the drought stricken area. meteorologist rec a stevenson is here with more. how is this rain affectingcal's drought? >> slowly but surely they will chip away at it. the rainfall that's come down and about half of the annual rain nall california is going to happen in december, january, and february. so we are just getting rolling into a brand-new water year. as we look back at the end of the water year that was september 30th, it ended, so 2013, third driest on record. now we have a new one coming in. we are trying to be optimistic and say this is going to start chipping away. we have to see this, though, end up as snowpack in the central and northern sierra. >> what type of weather pattern does it take to break a drought? >> ideally, something we have been getting for the last three

to four days bringing in rainfall from time to time. >> yes, the idea keep it cold so the snow stays in the mountains. >> right. >> it piles up. by april, we measure it and say it's a great snowpack and slowly as it melts off, they can utilize it through energy and through power and through reservoirs. >> in the next few days out there, it looks like more rain? >> it does. actually we have another storm system coming in, which is ideal. we would like more rain here but we are looking at the long-term and the pattern hopefully will hang on to that el nino pattern that stays very wet. chipping away. >> rebecca, thank you very much.

ma nasa will try to launch it's new orion rocket. the next was postponed because the series of problems including a boat in the launch zone. andy gal aft much gal agger has this story. >> hopes were that it would launch into deep space. >> you have permission to launch. >> proceeding with the count. >> initially, all was well, but then the first in a series of delays. >> at this time, there was a boat that is within the area that is blocked off. >> high winds again postponed the launch jaerningz saying it they are getting ready for the next attempt? >> confident we are going to be able to common rate the hardware and make an attempt later, going on consul again early on friday

morning. it's unmanned mission is a test for aircraft that is wholly a new era in exploration. >> this is more of a frustration than a disappointment. technical problems and even stray boyts are par for the course. safety is, as ever, a top priority. despite the delay, spirits are high the potential to launch will last for over three weeks. >> go orion. we were so excited to be having this vehicle launching. not only for american space flightfo but for the world. >> the next few hours, its historic journey could get underway. andy galling aer,asmach.

>> to the moon and the bank, companies are trying to catch in on a new space race. of course, we are keeping an eye on the protests nationwide and in the city of new york. following the grand jury's decision not to indictment in the chokehold case. live pictures from manhattan. we will be back with more right after after this.

this is "al jazeera america." i am john seigenthaler. coming up: no indictment in the new york city chokehold case but the case could possibly go to court: civil court. a suspect under arrest in the murder of an american teacher in abu dhabi, what led to a break in the case. plus, why your flu shot might not be effective this season. >> thousands of protesters nationwide are expressing their anger tonight against white

police officers killingly black men. >> demonstrators block traffic, held rallies, conducted mostly peaceful demonstrations in cities like boston, pittsburgh, oakland california and denver. also, u.s.a. today's reporting that the white police officer in new york who is swrfrnlths choke hold led to the death of eric garner has been sued three times for allegedly violating the constitution a.m. rights of other african-americans. on wednesday, a grand jury indicted not to indict 29-year-old officer daniel pentileo. and a new york state judge said state law requires the evidence of grand jury's proceeding to remain a secret. transcripts, testimony, exhibits, shown in the nine-week hearing will not be released. the burrough of staten island is heavily divided by race. many of the communities,' white residents have close tie to see police.

local reaction to the grand jury's decision has been mixed. roxanne a seberi reports. >> people on stat event island remember him as kind and gentle. >> i used to play ches with him. >> we used to call him big e. >> his stepfather says he hopes the federal civil rights inquiry will give him the justice he wants. the stwujustice he says his fam dent get. >> it's prejudice. >> that's what it is. the whole dam grand jury up there. >> less than two miles away, a lot of people say they see another side to garner's story. >> he was in a place that's eyed by the police because there are problems in that area. and unfortunately, he did have a rap sheet. you know, i don't know what other route could the officer have taken. >> most customers at liberty tavern say they have friends or family members who are fire fighters or police officers. so do people up the street at jody's club. >> people here are hesitant to

talk to us on camera about eric garner's case but off camera, they say they could see both sides of the story. others say they know the officer personally and they are glad he was not indicted. >> people in this neighborhood are most of working class and like 80% of the burrough's population, white. staten island has the highest percentage of whites of the immediate yemz and the highest median income. >> the farther south, the higher the average income. towed hill homes cost at least a million dollar. >> it is known as the most politically conservative burrough. residents here are particularlyly sympathetic to police. one poll suggestedno unlike new york city the majority fem police treats blacks and whites equally. back on bay street where the population is mostly black, some people say police treat people

of color inc. fairly? >> bullying, hit you, punch you because they know they can get away with it. >> they see the grand jury's decision as evidence of that. roxana sabari, new york. >> the protests continue tonight in new york paul beban is out in manhattan with more. >> john, that's right about six hours later after the protest began here in foley square sometimes as many as 400 people circulating here then over the brooklyn bridge. shut down the bridge. now there is a group of two to 300 about in the yards, 100 yards to my left. new york city. they are not being alloweds

>> the exchange between the police and the demonstrators, many of the demonstrators are eager for some kind of exchange, maybina confrontation there are many who are trying to talk that down. the overall tone is one of expression but not confrontation. definitely a stand-off posture from the police while they train to maintain order as best thing. slow motion demonstrations move

around. >> things have gotten pretty rough at some of these intersectionses protesters being arrested where we are told the manhattan en bridge has been shut down and try to get traffic flowing. how do you think tonight compares to last night, paul? >> it seemed like last night, what the sense that i got last night was a little bit more aggressive, at least where i was, people passing through times square were laying down in intersections action were deliberately blocking traffic for extended periods of time. that was going on the west side and in times square. i think it is situational. it depends upon who is in a certain area and what they're hoping to achieve, itching for

confrontation. i have not seen that by the brooklyn bridge and foley square area. it seems tanya stands-off po posture from the police. it depends upon where you are and who the people are in that area. it's not as organized. you don't give a sense of central organization. individuals and groups together. >> do you get a sense they will be out tomorrow night? >> it's difficult to say. it's chilly out here. they have been out here for hours and show no signs of slowing down. i think if the weather is good, we could see a repeat of this tomorrow night. it's friday frignight. hard to say. >> i really don't know. we will have to keep an eye on it. >> absolutely. it has been sporadic throughout the last couple of days and nights. paul, thank you very much. the family of eric garner has not decided whether to file a lawsuit over his death. sutures against police have cost cities all around america be hundreds of millions of dollars. melissa chan reports from oakland. >> reporter: the case of oscar grant. an unarmed african-american shot

and killed by a police officer on new year's day in 2009. the officer was found guilt of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison. not the enough for grant's family. so, he filed a civil suit. >> victims are kind of left with this independent empty feeling there is no place to go. there is a sense of hopelessness an frustration about it, and that's where this anger comes from. >> grants mother and daughter received $2.8 milli million in . the story of oscara grant is one example of how cities, police departments, in this case, a transit authority across the country spipt millions on cases. >> $2 million here. >> civil rights attorney john burris pursued what's known as writer's scandal here in occasion lands in which four police officers were accused of planting evidence and beating citizens. the city admitted no wrongdoing but it ended with a 10.nigh million dollar payout to 119 plaintiffs. sol of this money comes from

insurance companies. the city picks up the rest of the tab essentially taxpayers are the ones who pay for cops behaving badly. according to one study from 2006 to 2011, the new york city police department paid $348 million in civil rights settlement and judgments. the los angeles police department, 3 gray million dollar. chuck phone county sheriff's office paid 58 million. it may be an unsatisfactory system for taxpayers and many fathers who have said they would rather get justice than money but burris says that until we see major reforms at police stapingsz across the country, there is no reason to believer the cycle of police brutality followed by expensive civil rights cases will go away. >> remember, michael brown is just 1 case. i have had five police shootings since then, you know, four people unarmed. all right? >> michael brown's family has not confirmed whether they will

file a lawsuit following the grand jury decision in the ferguson case. now eric garner's family faces the same choice as wednesday's grand jury decision not to bring charges in new york's chokehold case. >> i am disappointed in the grand jury's decision this evening. i don't know what video they were looking at. evidently it wasn't the same one that the est of the world was looking at. >> in the ends, both family may see filing civil suits as the only choice they have. melissa chan, al jazeera, ol'land, california. >> the justice department investigation gave pour grades to cleveland's police department recently. it found police used excessive force too often or were po pooflytrapoofly train in the use of firearms. the review comes one week after a cleveland police officer shot a 12-year-old to death who was holding a pellet gun.

police in the united arab em raced say a woman was behind the stabbing death of a teacher happening at a shopping mall in abu dhabi and they say she was targeted because she was an american. david shuster has more. >> oboyo ryan moved to ab abu dhabi. she was teaching for a program called footprints which places teachers abroad. she wrote her travel was unique because i want i wanted to experience the arab world and their daily life. >> changed monday afternoon. authorities say she visited the upscale boutique mall where she was stabbed to death with a butcher knife in a public bathroom. finding her killer seemed like a challenge. certain vail answer video released showed the suspect wearing a cap and vail but thursday mornings announced a

break in the case. >> late at night and after strong investigation, the main branch of our security-for-forces arrested the female suspect. i want to give you the good news. the female suspect is in police custody. >> authorities also saying that soon after killing ryan at the mall, the suspect planted a crude bomb in fronts of the house of an american doctor who liz in abu dhabi, authorities say they found bomb making material when the suspect was arrested. in october, the u.s. embassy in egypt issued a security warning after a recent an offense muss posting in a jihadist website encouraged attacks against americans and other western schools and teachers in the middle east. this week, the state department said it was unclear if ryan was killed because she was an american tea americaner. >> shouldn't jump to conclusions. we don't have the facts here yet. >> with a suspect now in custody and an investigation advancing, the motive is becoming clearer.

>> the suspect targeted her victims for their citizenshi and their color om and not for any personal reasons. >> david shuster, al jazeera, new york. >> los angeles police say they are ready to investigate allegations of sexual assault against comedian bill cosby. some accusations are decades old. while they can't be purchased, information could be used in civil cases against gossby. his attorney said one of the accusers tried to extort money from him. also, today, the navy revoked cosby's honorary title of chief pety officer. he has not been criminally charged. this year's flu vaccine seems to be missing the mark. the cdc said the vaccine does not offer touch protection against the dominant strain this season and it's tooment to make a new one. the cdc is encouraging everyone to be vaccinated. this say it is effective against other strains of the virus dr.

debby paripal is the, if anything, and associated professor at nyu medical center and she told me why this year's vehicle is not a total loss. too there was group immunity. they make the vaccine in add vanths. it takes 6 months or so to make the vaccine. they start making it usually in zan so it will be ready no october. like a weather forecast that wasn't exactly right, it wasn't as ideal as they wanted. it is frontive but there are strains it's missing. >> it's not about the flu virus changing? >> some has to do with mutation. the idea behind the vaccine is that it's helping the bodyts

immune system to recognize the at least. 100 years ago, if the flu virus >> you know if i had different color hair, you might recognize me. there are some modifications. it looks a little different but not completely different. the vaccine can help you. >> how effective is it? >> we don't know the exact number because it depends for the just if you get the vaccine but if the people around you get the vaccine. it's less effective than we hope but still dem worth getting, especially people who are in contact with small kids or older folks who don't have the same type of immunity. >> do we know how serious the influence season is going to be this year? >> it's hard to tell.

this new strain, we don't know it's more dangerous. just that it's a little bit different. if people have symptoms, they talk about anti-viral medicationses if you get symptoms, it's good to go in early. >> it hasn't been a good flu season? >> thanks. >> capacities are racing to develop landers and rovers. getting there may be a big of a struggle but potential pay-off is big. jake ward has more. >> moon express and astrobottic are competitors in a small emerging market, a market that doesn't even know yet that it needs the moon. >> we see the moon as the mid codnent of the world. we want to open that up. >> we believe a hunk the moon you hold in your hands could be worth a billion dollars.

>> both companies are building unmanned spacecraft that could take cargo to the moon sort of like a fed ex or a freight service. >> they come out above the deck on here. they can mount blow the deck rovers, ex perments, education programs. once we lan on the service of the moon, we become a power station, solar powers. like a local utility. >> moon express's spacecraft is smaller, about the size of a coffee table and holds about 80 pounds. >> the design of our vehicle, our little spacecraft, here it is right here, it's like a little flying saucer, aload deck. it's like a hotrod in space. it can get to the commons of mars. >> the ambition of bolt companies, to build infrastructure on the moon, commercial space stations, launch facilities that can send spacecraft deeper into space.

>> the moon ultimately is a stepping stone to bigger and better things. namely are marches. >> that's the big objective of humanitys. >> that's the big objective of humani humanity. >> nasa announced both would be part of the lunar program. with the goal of one day contracting them to take cargo similar to a deal did has with space x to take cargo to a space station. >> frontier challenges line going to mars. we recognize our expansion. helping companies be able to do. >> the ultimate goal is to promote a competitive market. there is another layer to the competition here, the $40 milli $40 million lunar x prize to drive 500 meters on the moon and sends back hd images in realtime.

astrobottic and lunar express are competing for the prize along with 16 other companies along the globe. many plan to launch to the moon in 2016. astro bottic has proposed splitting it with other teams and a mass car for -- nascar for moon rovers, see video streaming live. >> this is red rover, our entrant to the google x prize race. >> planning the branding, too, sellingtisesing based upon their rover and on their lander. >> full of different logos and different opportunities for companies to have their messaging and branding and social experiences happen on the surface of the moon. >>. >> it's impression for the sport and for business. both companies will also be carrying paying customer pay loads to the moon. moon express will transport a telescope from the lunar association andatro bottic will bring a japanese sports drink. >> sending a drink called

pacarti sweat to be the first drink to land on the moon and serve as a time capsule for the kids of japan to put their dreams in. >> until now, this is what moon exploration looked like to americans. >> apollo missions, a bit of golf, not sports drinks and nascar races but commercializing space means that. it's going to become commercial of the. >> here is jim mcdivot and i when we were testing the lunar module. >> it's a far cry from rusty week is hart. >> when you start seeing a really creative, innovative lander on the moon, budweiser or, you know, nascar or some other advertising sim bomb tu puts some ambiguity in the game. but he says sponsor are money and private money is the key to developing commercial space and

all that comes with it. >> innovation is the correct dot future. >> that's what will enable my grandkids to look up on the moon to see lights of towns and settlement and cities maybe. who knows. >> jacob ward, al jazeera, san francisco. >> next, our picture of the day, plus. >> we've come a long way but it shows how much further we have to go. >> sports and social commentary, nba star lebron james had no problem take okay controversial issues.

>> a conflict that started 100 year ago, some say, never ended... revealing... untold stories of the valor... >> they opened fire on the english officers... >> sacrifice... >> i order you to die... >> and ultimate betrayal... drawing lines in the sand that would shape the middle east and frame the conflict today >> world war one: through arab eyes

only on al jazeera america >> hundreds of days in detention. >> al jazeera rejects all the charges and demands immediate release. >> thousands calling for their freedom. >> it's a clear violation of their human rights. >> we have strongly urged the government to release those journalists. >> journalism is not a crime.

athletes and politics don't always mix. many american sports stars chose to keep kwooift on the most controversial social issues. this week's, the nba's best players seemed to buck the trend. mike lees has more. >> john can, coming out of a generation led by michael jordan, most stepped to shy away from social issues. lebron james has had no problem speaking on issues outside the sports world especially when it comes to the death of unarmed black men much. lebron james made his most recent comment in new york before his cleveland cavaliers faced the dmikdz while both cities deal with the aftermath of two separate deaths at the hands of police. eric garner and tamir. >> jooef geographic connection

to the death of tamir rice doesn't make it more troublingly. >> it doesn't matter. it's more troubling that it's happening in our country. families are losing loved once. i am not pointing blame at anyone. we have come a long way, but it just goes to show how much further we have to go. >> while james to put support behind protests he is adamant whatever wrongs they feel they have committed answering those wrongs with similar tactics should not be tolerated. >> violence is not the answer. retaliation isn't the solution. as a society, we have to do better. i pray for the tams of the lost ones. but obviously, any time you lose someone, it's a downer for the whole family. >> his approach is more measures than that of charles barclay who has sided with the police in the eric garner and michael brown cases. >> we have to be really careful with the cops, man, because if

it wasn't for the cops, we would be living in the wild, wild west in our neighborhoods. i think we can't pick out certain incidents that don't go our way and act like the cops are all bad. >> athletes have been criticized for speaking out, perhaps most famously when american medal winners tommy smith and juan car lowed raised one wrist. they were kicked out of the olympic village in mexico city and sent home. the iconic moment boosted the black power moment but public shaming was also used by agent did, managers and others to persuade athletes not to get involved in social you equality. >> if you are an athlete and you feel passionate, you have the right to speak upon it. >> besides, influencing other agent let's, james may be having his biggest influence on his fans. he has more than 25 million followers on twitter and instagr instagram. his posts last week on the protests in ferguson was

retweeted or favorited nearly 300,000 tiles. john? >> michael eades reporting. we saw the rallies, heard the voices and the reaction to the grand jury decision in new york. it's echoing a second night. we leave you with some of the most compelling images and words from the past two days. >> hands up. don't shoot. >> too many americans feel deep unfairness when it comes to the gap between our ideals and how laws are applied on a day-to-day basis. >> justice force. >> the time for remorse would have been when my husband was yelling to breathe. that would have been the time for him to show some type of remorse or some type of care for another human being's life when he was screaming less than times that he can't breathe. >> i can't breathe. i can't breathe. i can't breathe.

>> it's also a tragedy, but it's a police officer who has to live with that dig, a police officer who went out to do a difficult job and all that you don't want to happen actually happened. >> we are blessed to have the finest police force anywhere in the world. >> that's this police force that's keeping us safer all the time. but we still have work to do in bringing our neighborhood did, our communities closer to the men and women who protect them. >> big challenges line these should galvan eyes our country. big challenges like this should unite us around an opportunity agenda that brings us together. >> people, united. we will never be defeated. people, united will never be defeated.

the officers sworn to at protect them, and the tactics they use. >> i can't believe. tighter and tighter.ing >> america tonight on the ground in new york city, with the furor oh the death