together, starting today. this is al jazeera. ♪. >> hello there. this is the newshour live from london. coming up: after four years of civil war in syria, the u.s. says only negotiations with president assad can end the conflict. at least 14 killed and dozens injured when pakistani talibani bombers target two churches. thousands of brazilians take to the street to call the president

recess to go. >> devastation where cyclone pam may have left 60,000 children in need of immediate help. >> with the sports p we knew he would be back. lewis hamilton starts the new season with a win in melbourne. . >> hello. it's four years to the day since the incidents which triggered serious civil war. a march 15th, 2011, the syrian government began cracking down on demonstrations. >> month, five protesters in the town of deraa became the first victims of the con forklift. a group of army defectors turned their weapons against the government and announced the formation of the free syrian army. the next month, hundreds of people were killed by government forces in the town of hanaa. the opposition formed the first

coalition, the syrian national council. in august 20, '13, the syrian government was accused of using chemical weapons to kill hundreds of civilians. by the following summer, the islamic state had taken territory in the north and declared what it called a caliphate. the united states formed a coalition and began airstrikes against the armed group. the latest victims of that fighting were a group of people in rebel held areas of douma. activists say as many as 30 people including children died in government airstrikes on residential buildings in the town just outside damascus. dozens more have been reported killed and injured in the last few days as the air force steps up attacks on the area. the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, raced the prospect of direct talks with the assad government. he told the u.s. channel, "face

the nation" the u.s. would have to negotiate with assad. >> we are working very hard with other interested parties to see if we can reignite a diplomatic outcome. why? because everybody agrees this is no solution. there is only a political solution but to get the assad regime to negotiate, we are going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating negotiating. >> that's under way right now. i am convinced with the efforts of our allies and others there will be increased pressure on assad. >> thousands of syrian children have been born in exile since the war broke out. many have only known life in a refugee camp. why jordan's account, this report. >> born a refugee rather than a

syrian national he is only three months old. the nine members of his family have been cramped into this rickety tent for a year and a half. his mother said finding diapers and medicine for her newborn is a struggle. he doesn't even have clothes of his own. she says her neighbors were kind enough to give away their children's old ones he is suffering as a child. he is not being raised like his sig blingses were. this one has nothing, not even comfort. >> children make up over half of the syrian refugees in jordan more than 90s,000 of them are not in school. according to the u.n. refugee agency, many children who witnessed the war have been traumatized since the start of the conflict more than 50,000 syrian children have been born in neighboring countries. most of those born here have not

known or anything outside although the camp services have improved in the last two years, there are still unavoidable challenges. the camp can be dry and dusty, and that causes respiratory problems among most children here in the summer many fall ill with dye rea. schools are widely available in the camp but some parents say their children have no desire to study because they have already missed a year or two of classes due to the war. and since they don't see a political solution in syria, they fear that this sense of hopelessness will stick with the

lost generation of syrian children. john kerry whom we heard from a moment ago is currently on his way to switzerland with talks with zarif on iran's nuclear program. joining us from lusanne. we will talk about iran but let's refer to the comments made by john kerry about possibly negotiating with assad. how significant is that? >> in some ways, it's new. in some ways, it's not. all along, they have said the u.s., that they wanted a negotiated solution, a political solution, and they were involved in the process where the assad governmented sat down with the opposition, a process that failed. they, themselves didn't sit down with the assad government. >> that's being proposed along with other international players coming to start a new series of

talks. why now? well, they had put their faith in the process from special envoy steffan, he was trying a bottom-up process, what he called a freeze starting off in aleppo, a cease-fire basically in aleppo. he had plans for that. he even had, he said a commitment for president assad to stop all aerial bombardment but since then the plan seems to have stalled. diplomats i have spoken to say that it seems effectively dead. >> that's why there is a new push rather than the bottom-up process, a top-down process, getting everyone around the table. >> kerry on his way to switzerland to hold yet more attacks about iran's nuclear program. we have had talks after talks after talks. how close do you think we are right now to some sort of deal? >> well i think we are close in the sense that they are closer in stermdz of pos debilitateties than they have ever been any time before. the hardest bit is the bit you

leave to last. there are grabs between the two sides, gaps they have to deal with. also i think it's worth pointing out. they managed to extend this process and extend this process a number of times. they have had deadline and passed and had an extension. i think it's going to be very hard for them to have another extension. in fact, the iranians are saying almost impossible to have another extension. so, i think as the deadline and the deadline for the framework deal the main part of the deal is the end of this month. i think it's getting to a very important time. remember that all of this of course, is about iran's nuclear program, a huge issue, but it could have other afas well. we take you back to syria, talking about a moment ago, if they have the plan for this top-down approach getting everyone around the table, well one country absolutely key is iran syria's main ally. >> shows how its linked in. james bays live for us in islam. thank you. fighters illinois to the shia clerkic on their way to the

offensive in is ill in deck rit. as it tries to accomplish out. isil still holds about half of. jane araaf has this report from baghdad. this unit is pinned down by sniper fire. isil specializes in snippers and explosives. here, it's used to deadly effect. the battle last week is an education of why taking tikrit is slow going. the counter terrorism battalion isn't u.s.-trained. they have been deployed from nearby camp spiker to clear the road for advancing soldiers and militia men. in just a few minutes, they lost five of their men on the battlefield. seven were injured. this is a side of the war not normally seen. the military and malitias won't disclose how many have died in

battle. iraqi human rights and health ministry workers on saturday found some of those believed killed near camp spiker last august. >> we have come today to open up the graves and lift the remains and then transfer them to baghdad. there, we will take them to the forensic lans to give their dnas. and the victim's families. >> the malitias who took back this town 13 kilometers from camp spiker say there are 400 bodies spread across four grave sites. they are believed to be some of more than 1,000 unarmed military recruits left undefended who were killed by isil making it not only a tragedy but a huge political issue in baghdad. unlike the iraqi army collapse

when isil rolled into iraq last june, stoone is run from this fight. members of the peace brig aides have been sent to reinforce fighters in tikrit. camp spiker is a rallying call. these fighters say we are going toage our brothers four-phoned. they are just setting off. they haven't seen the fighting yet. >> iraqi military leaders are confident they can retake tikrit. u.s. officials share that view. victories like this come at a very high cost. the unknown hundreds of soldiers and militiamen who have been killed in battle or at the hands of isil and the uncertainty of how far the desire for revenge will go. jane arraf, al jazeera, baghdad.

efforts my the iraqi army to retake the city of tikrit appears to have slowed. they are waiting for reinforcements to arrive. why has progress been so closer given the iraqi army plus the militia's filing alongside them outnumber the number of isil fighters in tikrit? >> you don't have wide-open spaces where you can move quickly. when you get near the city with the number of eid did that isil has been using, the carefulness and the care that must be taken by the forces to clear all of those,nally, it's going to be a slow fight, but i think we are seeing tremendous progress even though it has slowed down. >> many fighting alongside the iraqi army are being backed by

iran. how uncomfortable is that for the united states? is it likely there is some sort of coordination seeing what we are seeing on the ground? >> there is no direct coordination that goes on between the coalition forces and the iranian-backed malitias or the iranian forces. if there is done, it's by the iraqis, themselves. by and large, there seems to be a modis operanti where the malishas and advisors are working on one side and for the most part the iraqi forces have independently and u.s. air craft above the sky in the south with the iraqi security forces and in the north supporting the peshmerga. >> it gets a little bit complex when so many parties are involved in one battle for one

city. is there a sense -- we saw today, you know, what is happening in lusanne in switzerland as regards the possible deal with iran over at a time nuclear program. is there a since that the u.s. could be closer to iran since they have the common enemy of isil? >> the fact that we have a common enemy right at this point does not necessarily mean that there are warmer relationships between the iranian government and the west. i think the outcome of the nuclear negotiations will posit the way forward. if the outcome is no deal i think you are going to see a frigid relationship between the west and iran. if there is a deal as you said earlier, that might be helpful in terms of what's happening in syria. it might be in terms of what's happening in iraq. it might calmsom. instability seeing in the

region. conversely i think the gulf arab neighbors, the arab countries in particular are starting to be a little concerned about this warming up as they see this long-standing relationship between the u.s. programs being aber motivated a nuclear deal. >> is mosul the next big prize? >> i think the next objective is mosul. there will be fighting happening between tikrit and mosul but that is a major military objective, the second largest city in iraq and a major political objective as well while the west along the euphrates has been somewhat abandoned over the past few years, the anbar province acknowledged it's a sanctuary for terrorism. what happened in mosul and the region along the tive.

igris is relatively new. i think the new government of prime minister abadi recognizes that not only for military reasons he needs mosul back in the hands from the iranian government. bye-bye, bibi. israel's prime minister looks to a fourth term in. venzuela's parliament seeks a law that would grant super powers for six months. at home morino and chelsea cannot find a goal at the crucial time. news coming up a little later in the program.

first action thousands of protesters have turned out in brazil for rallies to call for the impeachment of the president. about 15,000 demonstrators took to the streets of rio dejanero. who faces criticism overs the petrobras corruption scandal. four from her administration are implicated in kickbacks. there are some 200,000 people on this main avenue ner in sao sao paulo. it's the most powerful city by many measures. you have people out on the streets that are fed up with the scandal, with the

7% rising. a lot of people want go see some kind of impact. whether there will be i am impeachment is clear. it's hard for her and her cabinet to govern eventively. >> adam how sick is brazil over the scandal? >> reporter: ? >> we covered it here in 2013 around a bus fare hike but this is more focused on her party, the worker's party and on her. you have people chanting in the street, our flag will never be red. >> that's clearly a shoutout against her workers or party.

but it is more conservative chant against what they see as taking it in the wrong direction. you have this much more one single block of people out on the streets even though she won in october, they want it to be over now. there is a precedent because she was in the midst of impeachment proceedings. resigned and they i am peopled him anyway when he was out of? >> adam raney, thank you very much indeed. 14 have bill killed t on conchs in pack stafne. took place in the hall. a report. the pakistani taliban timed

called it maximum devastation. the two churches in lahor were packed we can those attending sunday services. there was chaos after the bombs exploded within minutes of each other. ? >> i was on guard inside. a small gate was open. there was the sound of a blast and the gate was blown away. i quickly turned around and all of these splashes of blood fell on my clothes. after that we got busy with the rescue efforts. >> sunday's attack was the worst on the community since the devastating double suicide bombing in the northwestern city in 2013, killed more than 80 people. this time the bombings were in the neighborhood home to more than 100,000 christians. >> churches were stacked. we strongly condemned the attack and we demanded the government provide protection to all places of worship of all religions clus muslim prayer places. in pakistan minorities are

insecure. we want security. >> lahore is the capital of panjab. the city is generally considered peaceful compared to other areas of pakistan but attacks have been increasing after the government's failed attempts to hold piece talks with the taliban last year. christian community leaders say the government isn't doing enough to ensure their safety and that attacks like this show ter targets. victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> al jazeera's camille hyder sent us this date from islamabad. >> the attack against the churches in lahore is an ongoing strategy of targeting not just the security forces but the minorities here in pakistan. there have been deadly attacks against the shia community and the christian community.

two bombers were not able to get inside the churches where there would have been even heavier damage and more loss of life. they were stopped at the gate. the explosions were so powerful that the gates were ripped out of their foundation and thrown several meters away. there was considerable anger, the christian community coming out on the street. the government then negotiating with them to try and diffuse the situation, but it shows that the taliban, pakistan is trying to say that it can strike soft targets across the country and, also, target the minority communities in pakistan. >> during his traditional public sunday prayer at the vatican, pope francis, the head of the catholic church departed from script to respond to those attacks in pakistan. >> i learned about today's

terror attacks in two churches in pakistan which caused many casualties and injured people. those are christian churches christians are press cured. our brothers shed their blood only because they are christians. >> the aid agency units have said 60,000 children are in need of immediate help after tropical cyclone pam tore through the island nation. eight people are known to have died so far with a large number of homes thought to have been completely destroyed. kim vanell reports. this was a traditionally built house in port vila. this is all that's left. it with stood two cyclones. after cyclone pam, this family is homeless it's a scene repeated over and over across the capital port vila. the roof of this home has been torn off completely from the hill position, the scale of the

devastation becomes clear. jalene's family owned what was a water-front shop. everything has been destroyed. thousands of are now homeless foch used on trying to survive. one aid agency beliefs up to 90% of homes in port vila have been damaged, but the worst damage, it's thought, will be on the outer islands. rescue workers warmed the death toll is likely to rise. >> it's absolutely critical to make contact as soon as possible so we can really get an idea of the sense of the devastation that these outer islands face. but what we have seen in port vila and how port fillvilla gives

us a good benchmark. we can only assume complete devastation. >> now that the winds are dying down, help is starting to arrive. but with 6fy islands to assess the task ahead is daunting. >> it's going to descend in a quick reconnaissance flight over the runway there to have a look at how badly the small island has been hurt and then on bound to port vila. >> thousands spent a second night in emergency shelters on saturday but more who have been made homeless are expected to arrive. this tiny island nation is coming to grips with what's being called one of the worst disasters in the pacific. kim vannel al jazeera. >> for the latest from the scene of that disaster we can speak to allis clemons from the aid agency unicef. thank you for being with us on the program. as our reporter was saying 65 islands, just how difficult is it proving to get holds of people in knows islands to finds

out whether they are okay, and what they need? >> it's incredibly difficult. we have, you know yesterday we have seen taken off from the airport. few light aircrafts survived the storm. they are scouring skies and looking down on the archipelago to understand just where it was effective and what we are looking at here the description the from the president was that the pilots said some areas are flattened. tell us what it is they have most desperately need at the moment. people frankly need everything. i met yesterday a woman living in houses that have been ripped apart. she is nine months pregnant. she was due on the 9th of this month, and she is living in a community with no housing, no water, no power, and no food. so, if she travels -- if she isability travel to the hospital

to give birth, she will find that the hospital staff are incredibly stretched because the staff, themselves, are affected and simply are not at work. >> how much international help is already arriving and how is the coordination going? it was great to see the military aircraft release shipments coming in. this will only increase over time. i can't stress enough the complexity getting aid through to this country. it comprises more than 80 islands, some are accessible only by vote. no telecommunications at this point. all damaged in the form. so getting a sense of what the desire is and getting relief is another. i assure you the government is doing a great job of leading simultaneous action on all fronts. >> a difficult situation joining us live there thank you very much indeed for your time. >> still to come on the program,

still being felt residents of southern nigh year i can't lead with a daily impact of pollution caused by oil companies in the region. and no luck for the irish at the cricket world cup as pakistan send them packing. all sport a little later.

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deadly force: arming america's police only on al jazeera america welcome back. a radio minder the top stories: activists say up to 30 people have been killed in a series of government airstrikes in syria. the attacks come as a conflict enters the 5th year. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry says there must be a political, not a military solution to the conflict. fighters loyal to the shia cleric are on their way to bolster the fight against isil in tikrit. the battle has continued there on sunday with clashes close to the city's hospital. and the pakistani taliban says it carried out an attack on two churches in lahore. 14 people were killed with many others wounded. the civil war in syria has taken a massive human toll and led to

the world's largest refugee crisis of modern times. the the united nations estimates more than 2020,000 syrians have billed killed. more than 7 and a half million people have been forced from homes but have stayed in syria. another 4 and a half million are thought to be trapped in areas that are besieged or hard to region. in all, more than 12 million syrians are in need of help inside their own country. almost 4 million others have registered as refugees in neighboring countries. in recent months the international community's face against isil has overshadowed the war in syria. one activist is trying to focus attention back to the crisis by highlighting the struggle for freedom in the country. al jazeera's zena hodr has this report. >> it's called the spirit of the revolution. this film is about the struggle for freedom in syria. the man behind it is hedi

abdullah who is worried that the u.s.-led fight against the islamic state in the levant has overshadowed. it's one of the reasons he wants to raise awareness. >> the international community should remember there are syrians who oppose the regime. we are trying to remind those inside syria to focus on the goals of the revolution, they shouldn't join extremists. at the same times, they should reject any reconciliation with the regime. >> he is from the city of homms, home to some of the largest anti-government gone strations since the uprising began. protesters were killed and the uprising became a civil war. his city like so many other areas became an urban battleground. years later, homms is back under the government control. >> the syrian government may have the upper hand militarily, but it hasn't defeated the opposition. but its opponents are increasingly worried that the global war against. isil has

shifted the focus from the fight to oust the assad government. >> it's been almost four years since many syrians decided to challenge a state they long feared. they demanded from time to timed, dignity, a state of law & end to arbitrary detentions? >> they complained of a crept system that didn't provide opportunities for all. he believes the opposition has won because it broke the fear barrier. now, it's facing a new enemy. it is no longer a people's revolt against a criminal regime. now, the people are fighting an alliance that includes iran and malitias. this doesn't mean our revolution is over. >> this film is about the determination of many syrians to continue their fight, both against the regime and isil. and the message they want to send counters the government's narrative that it's a war against terrorists. zeina hodr beirut.

>> the chair of contemporary middle eastern studies, thanks for coming in. interesting what's happened today with those statements from the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, saying that in the end, he believes assad is going to be forced to negotiate. your thoughts on that statement. is that a move forward >> not only he said i mean this is the american position: that there is no military solution. the only way out is a political settlement. what's new in kerry's statement today was the fact we need to talk to assad. there is no way around assad. you cannot dance around assad en though the americans, along with their allies and other interested parties, russians, sirians. in order for assad to talk to us about a political solution. why should he talk to you about giving you power? you have been saying so for the last four years sir.

what kind of instruments of pressuranding has the united states changed its position? many question marks. i don't think there is a major qualitative shift in the american position. >> many would say that the international community has, in fact, failed syria over the past four years. more than 200,000 syrians have died. we know 12 million people inside the country desperately need some sort of help. could the international community have done something sooner because situation in syria is now so much more complicated than it was right at the beginning because you have so many groups fighting for power? >> the have national community has failed syria on multiple grounds. >> what could it have done early on? >> the international community should not have -- particularly the western powers have not basically said we want assad to go without really thinking of instruments and tools to get him out.

thing said we will get him out in the same way. he believed the western powers would offer syria on a silver plaider this is the greatest crisis since worlds war 2. 3.6 million refugees, 40% of the syrian population are either displaced or refugees. half of the population need food to survive. two generations of children, the syrian children go to ankara aman and see the plight of the children. no education what have you syria has dessendsed into darkness metaphorically and physically. no light at the ends of the tunnel. i want the international community to focus on the plight of the syrian people to give them food and hope. we can talk about the americans whether thatch changed the

position. let's do something concrete about the plight of the syrian children and the refugees this is a priority for all of us. not just for the americans. benjamin netanyahu is speaking ahead of tuesday's elections the latest pictures. ♪net of course hoping to a fourth term in. latest opinion polls show his party trailing behind the zinist union. he is facing increasing opposition at home and abroad a recent speech to the u.s. strained his reblthsz with obama. at home, voters say they are more concerned about the economy than his execute agenda live now to a correspondant in tel aviv who is under real pressure right

now? going to pan over my shoulder to take a look at the crowd. the number in the thousands looking onward around 10 or 15 netteli is the head of the skwhu issue home party. >> that's significance because the vast majority of people who are hear this evening have come here in the from the occupied west bank. they live in illegalisitsi settlement. now their journeys were subsidized by the local coun sizzle of these illegal settlement. 700 buses were used to bring these people here their message is pretty clear: that whoever is elected on march 17th should not and in their view will not give away any land to the palestinians. and that's what this politician behind me is advocating for what's interesting is as you were mentioning, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was here he was speaking a bit earlier with you

he is not the most popular person here many here don't agree with his stanchion of exchanging lapped so he wasn't given the kind of warm welcome that natteli has been given but there are politics being played here mr. netanyahu has bill trailing behind his nearest rival. of course, he is very concerned about that. he wants to try to get a last minutely bump which is why many say he comes here but it's hard to hard to say whether or not he will get that the people here are committed to their cause. they say that whatever happens in thisly, noland will be ceded to the palestinians. the people's view here is pretty clear. >> live in tel aviv. a kosher supermarket in france where a gunman killed 4 people in january has re-opened.

the attack in paris happened two days after the assault on the charlie hebdo newspaper in which 12 people died. those events did not put shoppers off with scores of customers rushing to stock up on kosher products in preparation for the jewish holiday of passover. the owner said he re-opened the shop in honor of the victims of the attack. >> police in the u.s. city of ferguson arrested a suspect connected with last week's shooting of two police officers. they were shot on thursday night during protests about the police chief's res ig anything that aver a u.s. justice department said race i69 practices were being deployed by both ferguson police and the local courts. venzuela's pardon me parlor is meeting for a vote on whether to allow nicholas maduro do rule by decree for six months he says it

is defended against hostedility. saturday saw the fight of a 10 day military drill involving 80,000 troops that was in response to u.s. sanctions imposed after washington designated venzuela a national homeland security threat. a new decree will happen. >> moments away from having the national assembly here right behind me approve nicholas maduro's request to allow him to rule by decree. this comes right after the u.s. targeted and branded the country a national threat to the u.s. the opposition has been critical of this move because, for one, there is not much information on what expected the law would

through mattur 0 to do. they feel this is comparable to handing somebody a blake check but, also was this is coming after an increase in intolerance of his government. this is also coming months before a parliament election that many have thought maduro's party might have been set to lose he is facing now a critical, low popularity of maybe 20s first with this law many are thinking prayer said for a nuchltn gang raped. they say they had i didn't haved several of the alleged stackers filmed on cc t.v. ransacking the area. the woman in her 70s is in a stable condition. five people have been detained for questioning.

a few minutes ago. >> this is al jazeera america. i am richelle carey. special coverage right now. you can see bob mccullae a the st. louis county prosecutor talking about the arrest in connection with a shooting of two police officers thursday in ferguson missouri. let's listen. >> firing a weapon from a vehicle which is a class b felon, armed criminal one for each of those. essentially, at this point, in the investigation, i stress is ongoing. there is still an awful lot to be done. the charge is a result of an investigation so far. information that was developed or the case developed through information that was provided by members of the public. essentially what we have charged them with is firing shots. it's possible at this point he was firing shots at someone other than the police but struck the police officers. so the charge is still assault

in the two officers. >> the $300,000 cash only investigation is still ongoing. we know from reviewing what we have so far, the police have done that, that there are still a lot of people out there. we can tell from some of the videos there who maym have witnessed it or seen parts of them. we see them looking in certain directions. so what got the police to this point is information that was

provided to them by members of the community, and i can't stress how important that is in every case but certainly in this case. it has been invaluable to do that. there is a lot more information we can tell from as i said the videos that there are a lot more people who are there who may have something to offer whether there are additional charges to be filed whether these charges are adjusted in some manner or whether there there are additional people to be charged we urge anybody who has any information at all to contact either crime stoppers or the county police. i will have a copy of the charges available in the probable cause statement. if anyone has questions. keep in mind this is an ongoing investigation. there is a lot to be done there is not a.m. a lot we can talk about. the evidence developed at this point in part on his statement that he may have had a dispute with some other individuals or

felt some dispute. we are not sure we completely buy that part of it, but in any event, it's possible he was fire firing at other people and the officers were in the back. however, it's assault in the first degree. a class a felon. >> do you know what the dispute was about with other -- >> let me tell you first of all, we are not sure there was a dispute. we have to go on the evidence we have at this point. investigation is going to continue. there are claims that he's made that he was -- he had a bit of a dispute with some other people who were there, which had nothing to do with the demonstrations that were going on, but that he was firing driveringly down main stream there? >> on the side street, yes. >> [question posed ] . >> there are a lot of things that have to be checked out from

previous investigations that would compare what information we have from people to the physical evidence that's there. some of that matches up. at this point, some of it does not. >> that's still going to go on. certainly enough right now to file these charges. i am on sorry. you were saying? it is possible there are other witnesses. whether there are other people ultimately charged we have to wait and see. >> that's why we need the cooperation of the public. anybody with any information to come in this is a result of the public contacting the police department contacting law enforcement, providing information that led to this gentleman. [question posed.] >> i can't give you a lot of detail on it. the weapon was recovered. certainly matches the shell casings that were fired at the scene in that weapon. it's a handgun, a nine or 40 --

a 40. these are -- these are members of the public who provided information. >> that's as far as we are going to go with that at this point. >> was he involved in the protest? yes. he is a demonstrator. he was out there earlier that evening as part of the demonstration. he has been out there on other occasions, part of the demonstrations, but at this point, it appears as you already know, the demonstration was pretty much over at that point. people were leaving, and that's when this came about. >> i wouldn't go that far, no. i wouldn't say he wasn't targeting police. i am saying right now the evidence we have supports filing the charge that he may have been shooting at someone other than police and struck the police. >> when the investigation is completed and we may be able to sdmrofd a lot, that part of it

[question posed away from microphone.] >> no. there was no physical fight, physical amounter indication or anything involved. >> is mr. williams local? >> yes. yes. >> from where is he from? >> i don't think it's in ferguson exactly. in the general vent, yes. >> have police officers been notified? they have been notified. notified by their departments and so i am sure they are relieved, but short of that i have not talked to them. >> i'm sorry. it was a handgun. >> where was the weapon recovered. >> recovered pursuant to a search warrant that was issued again based upon information that we received from the public. in his residence. >> question posed away from microphone. " /* ] ? >> there is so much more that

needs to be done. >> we are looking to see if there is a basis to file charges and hold him at this point. there is a lot more to be done about the specifics. >> does the video evidence support it? >> there is a lot of video out there. i hope there is a lot more from the various organizations here if there is anything that may show that certainly we would appreciate that being provided to law enforcement. at this point, you know, there is audio and video. there is -- i'm sorry -- audio as part of a video where the shots have been fired in the and the like. [question posed away from microphone.]. >> it came from up in that direction and the vehicle certainly was a big part of the investigation. still is. >> are you confident this is who all was involved? >> no.

confident, i think, that it appears there is only one person firing shots it's possible there may be other people who were with him at the time who were participating that's where the investigation is going now. >> what? >> again, i have to be somewhatcabe with the rules that are there. i can't go into the great detail on that. the information i can say is yes, he has acknowledged firing the shots. >> question posed away from microphone.]? >> he is on probation here in st. louis county for receiving stolen property. i think there is a warrant out there because he neglected to report for the last seven months to his probation officer i'm

sorry? [question posed away from microphone.]? >> absolutely. absolutely. that was the purpose of the reward is to, you know anybody has information to bring that in bring that information forward and so that's obviously a determination finally made down the line but absolutely. eligible for that. >> can you tell us what the names were? >> jeffrey. jeffrey-e-f-f-r-e-y j-e-f-f-r-e-y. >> okay. thank you. from st. louis county? >> the north county. i don't know -- he doesn't live specifically in ferguson. i don't know if there is a particular area or if it's unincorporated but not far. [multiple speakers.]? >> he was inside. the allegation is that he is inside the car for some of the

shots. all right. people who were at the protest? >> well i can't tell you exactly where all of this came from but i know there are a lot of people out there who provided information, yes. absolutely. the specifics and i am sure there were, yes, some who were demonstrators and some who weren't, observers. i can't del you specifically who was doing that. but yes. >> something happened earlier, something that was happening then? >> let me -- yeah. you hate to be too vague about it but we are not 100% sure that there was a dispute. >> that's part of the claim right now so that's something that's being investigated. there were a lot of people around and it's difficult to tell particularly just at this point whether there is an actual back and forth going on or whether it's on some of the video or not on the video and

the like. >> that's something everybody is looking dispute. >>. so who may be an intended target, if you hit somebody, that's an assault in the first degree, a class a felon, punishable by life in prison o each one of the counts pending against him. >> do you know what the target was? >> no. >> have you spoken to them? >> no. as i say, we are looking for anybody who was out there, anybody who has any information, anybody who thinks they might have any information to contact the county police or crime stommers and well follow up on it. >> if you determine that he did

it? >> the charge is still going to be assault in the first degree. it's still essentially the same charge, yes. >> [question posed away from the microphone.]? >> there were civilians between where the shooter was located and where the officers were. there were civilians between there. so, it's not as though there was no one there but at this point, i said, there is alternates more investigation to go on until we can determine that two officers were shot and seriously injured. >> that's the basis of the assault. whether it ends up as assault of a law enforcement officer or assault. it's a class a felon. thank you. >> did anyone come forward. >> you have been listening to st. louis county prosecutor bob mccullough. he says thanks to the help of the community, that 20-year-old

jeffrey williams is in custody charged with assault in the first degree in the shooting of two police officers early thursday morning in ferguson missouri. his bond has been set at $300,000. he says that mr. williams says that he was not shooting at police officers, rather, he claims that he was shooting because he was having a dispute he says that's the story he is telling and the county prosecutor says what led to this arrest was the help of the community. let's talk to somebody from the community right now joining us by phone is muz eerie state representative courtney allen curtis. representative, we appreciate you joining us. tell me your reaction to the fact that the county prosecutor said it was the help of the community that led to this arrest. >> it just shows that, you know the community is willing to come together to fight for change on every level. so that even means, you know,

providing information that leads to someone that's rattling a movement that is pushing for change and positive change at that. >> he says that there are possibly other people that may have been involved even if they did not pull the trigger. do you anticipate the community continuing to help bring this case to resolution? >> given how fast they were able to find the suspect based off of information from the community, i have no doubt that they will continue to do so. we have good people in the community and the surrounding region and everybody. no one of wants for any officer to be injured. so, i have no doubt. >> what is the mood like in ferguson right now. you know it's hard to say. i was in with a business owner the other day, and there they are still waiting for business to pick back up he said

community asked for change at the city council meeting. it's mixed emotions if you will. i think it's everybody's is looking for where we go from here. >> are you optimistix? >> definitely. we have seen change to date aver the department of justice report was released, you know, the protesters didn't give up. they went back out after the chief resigned to continue pushing for change. the community is coming together. the community cake tomorrowgether to provide information with regard to the suspect. we are going to keep moving forward and ultimately at the ends of the day, i think we can be a stronger community because of it. >> representative courtney allen curtis, thank you for your time. we will have much more on this developing story at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on al jazeera. so again, an arrest has been

made in the shooting of two officers in ferguson missouri that happened earlier this week. the county prosecutor says that there could be more arrests coming. again, we will continue to cover the story. join us at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on al jazeera america. thank you so much for your time. do keep it here. >> after four years of civil war in syria, the u.s. says only negotiations with president assad can end the conflict. >> you are watching al jazeera. i am david foster. good to have you along. in the next 30 minutes: at least 14 people are killed. dozens are hurt after pakistan taliban bombers target two churches. thousands of brazilians take to the streets calling for president russef to