>> this is aljazeera america, live from new york city, i'm tony harris. day of rage. palestinians launch attacks against israelis, and israel vows an aggressive response. confirmation what brought down malaysian 417. and democratic candidates hold their first debate. and a mega merger is brewing between the top beer companies.

and we begin tonight with a day of bloodshed in israel. prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has vowed to settle the to waive palestinian attacks. three separate incidents in jerusalem today, and what some palestinians are calling a day of rage. so far 30 palestinians and seven israelis have been killed since the unrest began this month. carl is here, and it good to see you, tell us more about these attacks today. >> reporter: well, tony, certain things seem to be headed for escalation here this morning at 10 a.m., an israeli i

bus making its way through the city, and it came under attack. two men stormed it, opened fire with a pistol and attacked with a knife and killing two jewish men there. almost at the same time, in an orthodox neighborhood of west jerusalem, a palestinian man rammed a vehicle at a bus stop, killing a rabbi, and then he burst out of the car with a meat cleaver and attacked other bystanders there. so certainly very horrific, and in a special meeting at the israeli parliament, prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, was certainly trying to take a tough stance. let's listen to what he had to say. >> today we will decide on a series of additional aggressive steps in the terror incitement. israel will settle with the killers and those they tried to

murder and assist them. >> reporter: and of course, what this is contributing to on the street is a climate of fear and anger, not only amongst israeli citizens, because they believe that the palestinians are inciting violence against them. but there's fear and anger among the palestinians, because they now believe that the israeli citizens are out to exact revenge and lynch them, tony. >> anchor: carl, i'm thinking about what the prime minister had to say there, and i'm wondering, maybe the announcement hasn't been made yet. but what security measures are even being considered by the israelis? i'm reading about troops and roadblocks, and it's on the table right now. >> reporter: yeah u. you're absolutely right, tony, and that's the subject of

discussion this afternoon and late in the evening. the israeli government, a special security cabinet. and there are those very controversial and confrontational measures on the cable scum the morning hours, with a press conference, with when the government may finalize those measures, but among them, israeli soldiers to parolpatrol the streets of west jerusalem and occupy east jerusalem, and there's a plan to circle some of the neighborhoods of east jerusalem to stop the memberships from coming out from those areas into other parts of the city, and another and another measure on the table, beefing up the troop presence on the green line, the boundary between israel and the occupied west bank. so certainly measures aimed at

beefing up troop presence in order to contain palestinian troop movement, and that can fan the flames of the violence. >> it absolutely, and carl, thank you. secretary of state john kerry reiterated the obama administration's concern over the mounting violence. >> the united states condemns in the strongest terms possible, the terror attacks against the israeli civilians. naturally, we mourn the loss of any life, no matter who it is, but this violence and any inassignment has got to it stop. it's too volatile and too dangerous, and it's not going to give the peaceful resolution. >> kerry made the announcement during the bilateral talks, and

they are trying to figure out navigation in the south china sea. it's one of the world's biggest shipping routes. 15 months after malaysian airlines flight crashed over the ukraine, a dutch safety board announced today that a soviet missile shot down the plane and killed all onboard. and it concluded that the ukrainian airspace overtime conflict zone should have been closed. lisa stark has the details. >> reporter: dutch painstakingly reconstructed the jumbo jet. they ran computer simulations, all showing that a russian surface to air missile took down the plane. it's warhead exploded just outside of the cockpit. >> after which the airplane broke up in the air, it

crashed, the center section contains the engines, hits the ground upside down and caught fire. >> reporter: the report finds the missile was fired from eastern ukraine, where russian-backed separatists were battling the ukrainian government. but it stopped short of blaming the separatists. in moscow, the missile was denounced, saying that it's own missile could not have caused the tragedy. but the dutch say all of their evidence, from fragments of metal to traces of distinctive missile paint prove otherwise. family members of the 298 onboard were told of the horrific details before the public release. >> yes, it was a missile, and they showed us the fragments, and the fragments were inside,. >> inside of the body of the

crew. >> reporter: what grieving family members wanted to know, did their loved ones suffer? the investigators determined that during the roughly 90 seconds it took for the jet to fall from the sky, some of those onboard may have remained "conscience" for some time. but they were "barely able to comp helped the situation in which they found themselves. another key question, why was the plane flying over a war zone? the ukrainian government had closed the airspace up to 32,000 feet. and as a precaution, the malaysian jet was flying at 33,000 feet. >> to close the airspace as a precaution. the ukraine authorities failed to do so. >> investigators say countries rarely close their airspace during armed conflicts, and that needs to change. malaysian airlines could have elected to fly a different

route. but it was not alone in thinking that cruise being over eastern ukraine at such a high altitude was safe. radar showed 160 commercial jets had flown over that region that very day, and three others were in the area when mh17 was shot down. the families welcomed this report, but what they really want is justice, and the dutch are conducting a criminal investigation which will determine who is to blame for firing the missile that brought down this jetliner, but whether anyone, a government, individuals, will ultimately be held accountable, that is truly an open question. >> all right, lisa stark reporting for us. democratic candidates take center stage tonight in their first presidential debate in las vegas. let's bring in michael shure, in las vegas for us, and we were kicking this around

earlier, but let me bring in the question directly. who has the most to lose in tonight's debate? >> reporter: well, you know, tony, a lot of people would say hilliary clinton does, because she's coming out with four candidates who want to share her part of the pie, but in miest nation, bernie sanders has the most to lose. the amount i hillary vote is in play, and there are more people auditions this, and if they see anybody tonight, o'malley or chafee or jim webb, that could be my person, and if they don't want to vote for hillary, or someone else, bernie sanders would see some of that fallout. and he needs to have a good debate. that's not conventional wisdom. but it's good to remember, there are people out there who don't want to vote for hilliary clinton. >> i don't come to you for conventional wisdom. i come to you from outside of the box. am i dead wrong, michael shure,

that this is still hilliary clinton's race to lose? look, i know that there has been -- that the poll numbers are not as good for her as they once were, but walk me through, if you would, some of the latest polling here. >> well, here's the thing, tony. despite your flattery, i would have disagreed with you, but you're dead right. hilliary clinton is in the driver's seat. and it would have been unimaginable for her poll numbers to have held up before people started entering the race. there are people looking for other people to vote for, but when you look at some of the national poll, and some of the local polling, and the real clear politics has an average that they keep of all of the polls. she's up nationally 18.3 points, and that's a lot, unheard of amounts, considering that she still has four people running against her. and when you put joe biden in the race, and he's not in the race now, but yes, some of her support goes to joe biden, but it's still overwhelming, and at

this point, it still remains hers to lose. it is a big week, and it's a big debate and everybody gets to watch them. people get to watch hilliary clinton by herself at the witness table before the benghazi committee. and that's where she could lose a little bit of the support if she doesn't do well there. >> and the biden factor, you mentioned the vice president. and he's not in the room, yet he's in the room. should any of the other candidates, hillary and the others, be concerned about what we'll call the biden factor? >> he's not in the room, but his podium is. harry reid, the senate minority leader said that joe biden last name be here, but there was an extra podium here at the wynn in case he decided to show up. there's concern, but it's not great concern right now. the real concern comes when you look at the union vote. and you look at a lot of the unions that have withheld their

support and remained neutral, hilliary clinton has the teachers, but when you look at the service employees, in nevada, 60,000 members of the culinary union, and they haven't put their support behind anyone yet. joe biden, he's friendly with the unions back east. and that could make a difference when it comes to endorsements. people talk about him, but not as a candidate. >> let me put in one more here. do you expect any of the barely polling candidates. martin o'malley and chafee and webb, to come out with a approach tonight? >> they don't come in with the celebrity factor that donald trump has. and i don't think so. some of these candidates have a reputation for being rough in your face, and jim webb is that way. but you have to be careful. and you have to get people to want to vote for you tonight.

you can't just say, hillary is bad, and i'm better than bernie on this. it's more about the dynamics of selling yourself. i think of rick lazio, who ran against hillary for senate in 2000, and he made some mistakes in going in her face, and i don't think that people will do that tonight. but if they want to they will. >> it's the only reason we remember rick lazio. because he was in hillary's face. that's the only reason we remember him. >> . >> but we don't remember senator rick lazio. >> let's have more on this, and i want more. democratic strategist, christie pellosi joins us now, and looking forward to it. i know you're looking forward to tonight's debate, because you love this exercise in

democracy, but specifically, what are you looking forward to seeing and hearing tonight? >> well, tony, thank you for having me. first, obviously our condolences to the people of israel, such a tragic day, and in that spirit, i would say this debate tonight for president of the united states is the biggest job interview there is. it's for commander in chief and leader of the free world. so i think that the events in israel weigh heavy tonight on the debate. and the events that you just reported on, in terms of the ukraine, they weigh heavy tonight. and this is first and foremost, the job of being the commander in chief of the united states military. and really, people look to our country to be the beacon of democracy and to be the world leader, and we have to look at all of the candidates and say, who has the right stuff to be president? and in my mind, that's hurricanhurricanehillaryrodham .

>> some of the things that be you will be addressing tonight. you mentioned foreign policy, and russia and syria and assad and all of those hot spots, but i wonder if you expect there to be much on education, wage equality, voting rights, and climate change. we didn't hear much about those issues in the republican debate. >> we did not, and we unfortunately didn't hear a question from the media regarding our nation's veterans and the military families. and so if we're thinking about it in terms of our teenage kids and whether or not they will have to fight a war declared by the next president or congress that we elect in 2016, the question is, who will best lead our country, and what kind of future can we expect from those

who are already serving the country, and who is going to take care of the veterans who have served us so well, now that they're home and they're suffering physical and emotional injuries that need care. so i'm concerned about veterans, and concerned as a woman, about my and my daughter's right to choose, and whether or not lawmakers respect our choices, and obviously i'm concerned about jobs and the economy and what sort of financial independence our kids will have as they get older. >> so christie, you said on this program, hillary rodham clinton moving forward. and what do you think of the last time months of disquiet? you have to say in the campaign, what you would tribute it to. and how she wealthers that and moves forward and strengthens what is still a strong position? >> well, i think that secretary

clinton is in a very strong position. first, we do have the very successful presidency of barack obama, and her service in his administration, and their team of rival partnership, is what she takes with her into the campaign. president obama higher numbers than anyone, aspiring to the job, and as a democrat and an american, i'm very proud of barack obama. >> but can she simply go on his record? >> no, she has to go on her own record, tony, in terms of the work that she did as first lady. and work done with women's rights and children's rights, and the great work that she did for new york city, including on the 9/11 first responder's bill, which unfortunately the republican congress haslett expire, which is unconscionable, and they don't believe in birth control and planned parenthood. but what hilliary clinton will

bring to the job is not only president obama and her ability to built on his excellent record, but the relationship between the congress and getting things done. >> were you surprised that the secretary disagreed and participated ways with the president on the transpacific partnership, the tpp, the trade agreement after being a pretty loud supporter of that negotiated agreement? >> first of all, i haven't read it, and i don't think that anyone has read it yet. so i think that her remarks were based on what she was hearing, and i would like to see it, so we can figure out where we stand on it, but they began their partnership as a team of rivals, and if as rivals, they tend to have disagreements throughout their service together, that's not a surprise, because what they offered were people with different views, but similar values and visions for the

country. >> christine, thank you for coming on the program. christine pelosi. the name sounds familiar, and it should. coming up, david schuster joins us about what is at stake, and what the candidates need for the debate. and coming up, details in the freddie gray case, one of the officers charged in his death allowed in court. and also, moving up, a mega merger, the world's largest beer company could get a lot bigger.

>> so a major blow, in the case of freddie gray. gray died being arrested in baltimore, and three police officers are facing separate trials in his death. john is in baltimore, and what happened today? >> reporter: hey, tony, in washington, this will happen in baltimore next, as you know, and we're in the pretrial it stage at this time, and today, judge barry williams ruled that statements made by two of the six officers charged in connection with freddie gray's arrest on april 12th, and his death on april 19th, they are allowed to have their evidence given to police officers in the early stage of this investigation, used as evidence against them. they may be used in their own trials, and possibly in the trials of their peers as well.

more so that in a second. but today the trials for alicia white and william porter tried to suppress from the police, saying that they were retained improperly and the judge would have none of that. >> how have the statements been obtained improperly? >> well, in alicia white's case, the attorneys argued that she was tricked into thinking that she was a witness to the crime and not a suspect, and she was also told they say that signing a waiver of her miranda rights, her silence rights, if you will, and as a baltimore police officer, was not tantamount to giving up her rights, which it was. the prosecutors say, these statements were obtained correctly and legally by baltimore's force investigation team during the early stages of

the investigation, and they say that the police officer, of all people, didn't understand her rights was a serious problem in baltimore. >> gotcha, and what about the other officers charged in this case? >> reporter: well, three of them were in a similar situation to the other two today, but they agreed to have similar motions of their statements to the police suppressed, and a fourth officer in the first place. this trial is set to get underway in stages, beginning in november with officer william porter, and the others will start in january and march of next year, and this is fresh thinking, trying each officer individually, and she's hoping to get more out of this. the charges are second-degree murder, manslaughter and improper arrest. >> john terrett for us in

washington, and there's new light in challenging nypd's surveillance of muslims in the wake of. >> 9/11. a federal appeals court in a suit brought, they have been monitoring muslim communities there, and lower courts said that they couldn't keep watch on terrorist activities without watching muslims, and comparing the nypd's activities with scrutiny to japanese americans in world war ii. after the program, after a so-called day of rage, israel's prime minister said that he will do everything in his power to stop the bloodshed. five democratic candidates are scheduled to take the stage tonight in las vegas, but much of the focus will likely be on one of the democrats. plus. >> i'm melissa chan in las vegas, with a look at how the housing crisis continues to impact the aging population.

>> went to take another look now at the situation in the west bank. secretary of state john kerry has condemned what he calls the terrorist attacks against israelis. and he has urged both israelis and palestinians to bring an

end to the violence. at least three israelis were killed today as the violence escalates. and meanwhile, palestinians in northern israel have been staging peaceful protests. >> reporter: thousands filled the streets of this town, carrying a strong protest message against the israeli government. these are palestinian israelis, citizens of the state. and their elected representatives. 13 members of the israeli parliament. >> what's happening is not us. it's actions of the israeli government. there's continuous brutal occupation, all of this legitimate angle. >> but the sort of anger seen here wasn't violent. but instead, hard-hitting speeches, condemning the israeli prime minister's actions. this rally, in the packed town it square, is a litmus test, a

barometer of political support for resistance. right now, it's peaceful. the police and the army aren't even in sight. and that's the way it stays. this rally showed overwhelming solidarity to the resistance to the occupation, and 90% of this town have come out on strike. all of the shops were closed. and speakers called for a peaceful solution. among them was an israeli jewish professor. >> every jewish citizen in this country who wants to live in this country based on equality and justice has to defend the arab minority in israel against the tack by our government. and netanyahu is playing with fire, and it's dangerous for both of our peoples. >> the rally ended as it began, peacefully. that's a rare sight these days.

in northern israel. >> waxman, a professor at northern university, and for the center for peace and culture and development. doug, appreciate you being back on the program and thanks for the time. well, you know, this is going to be a longish question, but bear with me because it will set everything us else up. does this uprising feel different than anything you've seen in the past? for example, if i ask what's motivating the attacks, the answer is the occupation, isn't it? and if i ask, will the netanyahu government do anything different in its response, outside of troops, roadblocks, and maybe something be financial, isn't that what you would expect as well? >> well, what's different about this than previously, to this point, it's largely unorganized. these are attacks taking place

by individuals, many of them very young, and without organizational backing, they seem to be spontaneous, and the first was very organized, with heavily armed groups, and the uprising was quickly organized and essentially planned. so there's a significant difference there, and also, we're seeing the tools, if you like, if we can call it different as well. >> why are you calling it an incident fadha? i didn't heard anyone on the palestinian side calling it inta fadha. the leadership, they're calling it that, and on the palestinian streets, among them, the palestinians themselves,

certainly, they're trying to get the situation under control, and they don't want to call it that. whether it is or not, we're seeing large demonstrations in the west bank, and many of the attacks, in east jerusalem. >> but this uprising hasn't been sponsored or sanctioned by hamas in gaza, or by the leadership in ramal ramallah. would you agree? >> that's right, temporary to co what we're hearing, even israel's own security systematic follows that president habas and the security systems have been trying to quell the violence, and this is one of the reasons that it's so hard for israel to stop this. it's not being organized or centrally planned. and at the moment, the

palestinian groups are not engaged in this, and it's very hard to stop these so-called lone wolf attacks taking place, and unfortunately, i think that we'll see a continuation of the violence. >> so how does the country at the moment seem less safe than today? >> reporter: well, growing political pressure from o'the right to impose draconian security measures, on the palestinians to control the situation. he's being accused of being too placid in the mounting terror and the personal security. and i think that the longer this continues, the more steps we'll see possibly toward the closure of the west bank, and deployment of the israeli military into east jerusalem. and at the same time, all of the security measures are not going to be enough to restore

security for the israelis without taking some political measures. >> okay, dov, so with the arab dominated parties, calling for a peaceful political solution, there is not such an animal available between these two sides. today, tomorrow, or in the foreseeable future. am i correct to say that, as pessimistic as that sounds? >> well, i think there are lots of things unilaterally that israel can do, particularly to improve the lot of the palestinians in east jerusalem, who have been living in a no man's land, where there's no israel control or palestinian control, and where they have no municipal services, and they're seeing encroachment by israel. and there are a lot of things that israel can do to resolve the situation that the palestinians find themselves n.

but to improve their lot. and at the same time, it's possible for you in the diplomatic process, and secretary kerry said that he's going to go to the region, and i don't think that it will result in any peace agreement, but it could at least give a possibility of hope, reason the despair and the stalemate that we have today. >> that's what we have today, dov maxman, did to see you. the democratic candidates will be squaring off in not long from now. looking at the democratic debate, there's plenty at stake for the candidates. but is that really the case? aljazeera's david schuster is here with a preview. david. >> the best way to answer this is to look back. by this point in 2008, so october of 2007, the democratic field led by clinton and obama and biden and edwards had

already participated in 13 debeats. so this time things are far more compressed and that means that everything that happens tonight counts, and it will be magnified. leading into tonight's democratic debate, some say that the pressure may be the greatest on hilliary clinton. in the crucial early nomination states of iowa and new hampshire, polls suggest that clinton has fallen behind vermont senator, bernie sanders, and nationally, at least one poll indicates the majority of voters see clinton as dishonest. saying that she was wrong to use a private email system as secretary of state, and she has been lashing out at republicans for their investigation of benghazi. >> this committee has set up, as they have admitted, for the purpose of making a partisan political issue out of deaths of four americans, and i would have never done that. >> . >> democrat strategists say that clinton needs to continue to fire up her party, while

reminding voters about her government experience. bernie sanders has captivated the democratic party's left-wing, thanks to his loud blasts of inequality. >> the agreed of wall street and agreed of corporate america is destroying the great middle class of this country. >> the cheering for sanders is to make inroads with democratic moderates. many see the policies as too extreme, and don't see sanders as very presidential. former governor, o'malley, streetogists see him as straight in the central casting. >> the presidency of the united states is not some crown could be passed between two families. it's an awesome and sacred trust. >> o'malley has barely regged

in the polls, but as sanders stumbled and people begin to look for an alternative, o'malley to gain the most. web has started his campaign, but neither web nor lincoln chaffey are known for their public speaking. >> we have many challenges facing america. >> as it stands, voters are keeping an eye on clinton and sanders and seeing if o'malley can break through. o'malley is expected to be aggressive with hilliary clinton. clinton could battle back that in 2008, he supported her and not barack obama. and jim webb, he hates the deals that clinton and the others support. >> so what are the biggest challenges for the candidates tonight? >> the biggest challenge may just be the format. 2 hours and only five candidates, and as a result, they're each going to super 20,

25 minutes of total time, as opposed to 10 or 12 that some of them had in the republican debate. and i as a result, there's a greater chance of one of them making a mistake or a gaff that could hurt them. so they have to be on their game. >> i only have 10 minutes worth of material. david schuster, appreciate it. las vegas is seen as mostly glitz and glamor, but that's not the reality for most people living there. especially in the retirement communities. melissa chan has more. >> reporter: paul came to retire and live the life of leisure, and then the financial crisis hit. >> i bought the house at the peak, close to 400,000, and now the house is worth maybe 250. >> reporter: now he needs help. especially for his wife, who has alzheimer's. the he drops her off at the

senior daycare center every day. >> it has been rough. i don't know, it has been very hard. >> reporter: las vegas has gambled big on real estate and loss of ending the retirement plan of many residents. >> folks who plan for their retirement for their later years and moved here from other states for the warm weather and the low cost of living, and then found themselves going under when the economy crashed. >> reporter: the number of senior citizens who suddenly found themselves needing help financially or with medical care caught the state by surprise. according to one be cdc study, the demand for assisted living is higher in nevada than the national average. this is one of the few facilities in the entire state that takes care of a rapidly aging population, it helps about 1,000 people. and that's not much when you consider there are 350,000 seniors in the entire state.

>> nevada is the poster child for this. because of our rapid increase in aging, we see it more so than the rest of the nation. >> reporter: fred begly is 72 years old and he tried working at a wal-mart awhile ago, and now he's a senior helping other seniors, volunteering and receiving a stipend of $2.65 an hour. and even that little, he says, helped. >> it's helps my social security, not much, but it helps out. >> reporter: for older americans who have had no choice but t to reenter the job market or stay on longer than planned, life has been a struggle and las vegas has had its specifics. >> a normal power bill can run in the summertime, at least $250 a month, and that's really high when you think about someone on a fixed income, so we have a lot of people just going back and taking part-time

jobs just to keep the electricity on, and food on the table. >> reporter: aarp's mobile chapter stays busy, trying to place seniors in a variety of job, preparing them to rejoining the workforce. tina once be worked in housekeeping at a hotel casino, and at 56, she's considering going back to school for a four-year degree. >> it's very very important not to be left out of the workforce, very important. >> reporter: retirement takes decades of planning, and for so many people who made las vegas their destination, it wasn't supposed to play out this way. the economy here has picked up, but not enough to change these lives. well, tony, something that our report didn't go too much into are the boomers, because you have the boomers in las vegas and across the country, and they have to take care of

retired parents, and parents who perhaps lost a lot of value in the 401ks or their home. and a lot of children who lost their jobs in their 20s and 30s. very tough times. >> so melissa, what are the resources for the seniors who need help in nevada? >> reporter: well, what's really interesting about the state of course, one the attractions of nevada and las vegas, there's no state income tax, but it does mean less of a revenue stream for be social services. but there's an aging services division, and they are funneled by the federal government and they need all of the help they can get. >> all right, melissa chan for us, and that racket going on around her. and be sure to stay with aljazeera america for a preview of tonight's debate at 8:30 eastern time. and then at 11:30, we'll be fact checking and what the voters are saying. after months of controversy

caused by undercover videos, planned parenthood will continue to offer fetal tissue for research, but it will no longer accept any payment to cover the program costs. it says that it will maintain the program itself at its clinics, and the president insists that the change in the program removes any basis for attacking the group. there's a big merger brewing between the world's biggest beer makers. and aljazeera america explains what's on tap. >> reporter: it's going to make you thirsty. anhauser busch and miller announced plans to merge. it's based in belgium, it will take over sab miller, based in london, for $104 billion. and if the deal goes through, it will be the largest beer merger ever in the world, where we have had a lot of beer mergers. they own budweiser, corona,

stella, and south african sample breweries owns miller and foster and every beer in africa. together, the companies would brew one-third of all of the beer worldwide and corner 70% of the u.s. market. this comes as they are shifting in a big way. think about it like the airlines, tony, there used to be a lot of them. but in the past decades, they have merged into a handful of giant conglomerates. they hope that the behemoth merger will sort out. one of them that beer consumption is slowing in countries. they want the fast growing african market share. and craft beer. last year, the u.s. market grew only one-half of one percent, and small breweries increased

by 18%. so they hope that their merger will squash some of the competition from the little guys, but when you talk about squashing the competition, it's a regulatory issue, and it has to go through a lot of regulators in uk, europe and here in the united states. >> you can watch ali velshi, 7:00 pacific right here on aljazeera america. twitter announced today that it will be laying off 8% of its workforce, and that's because of structuring put in place by cofounder, jack dorsey. he said that it will put the social media company on a stronger path. twitter has over 304 million active users per month. california is fighting wildfires, and employs inmates

to battle them. and meet the author who is rewriting the stereotypical storybook ending.

>> california needs more help battling it's historic wildfires, and the state has enlisted the help of prison

inmates, and now officials are considering using those convicted of violent crimes. john henry smith takes a closer look. >> reporter: inmates have been helping to battle wildfires since 1976. and it's the oldest program in the nation. >> our priority has always been the safety of the public, of our own employees, and the ability to respond to natural disasters and work that the inmates do on a daily basis. >> but now they're proposing to allow inmates convicted assault and be violent crimes into the program. >> maybe we can include them because of their good behavior over the last ten years or so in prison. >> a shrinking prison population contributes to less firefighters. >> we have had a record year this year, and it only eclipses

the number of wildfires last year. and if that's the trend for the future, we want to make sure that we have enough inmates to fight the fires. >> officials say that arsonists, kidnappers, and those serving life sentences for murder would still be excluded from the program, but still they are worried. >> my concern is with one person managing such a large group of inmates without additional help. >> reporter: some california residents are concerned too. >> it worries me greatly, because i have two young kids, and i don't know what the crimes have been, and what they are convicted of, and what they're capable of doing. >> reporter: and while only non-violent offenders have been allowed in the inmate fir fighting program so far, there have been criminal incidents in the last ten years, most of which have been assaults on fellow prisoners, but they

would welcome any help. >> i suppose at the moment like that, i wouldn't be checking someone's credentials but grateful that they would be out there protecting our homes. >> for more on what's going on at the top of the hour, john seigenthaler. >> the downing of malaysian flight 17, destroyed by a surface to air missile and what dutch authorities have concluded. we'll get more from the ntsb. and democrats square off in the first democratic debate for 2016. syria, the economy, healthcare and immigration. "america tonight's" joie chin, will join me with the political team in las vegas and across the country, and plus, student reaction from georgetown university. and also tonight, indicted on terror charges. that's what 15 men face in georgia. they're accused of waving the

confederate flag where a black family was celebrating a child's birthday. the video account and both sides. more coming up in minutes. >> playboy is about to find out how many people actually read it for the articles. the magazine that helped to usher in the sexual revolution of the 1950s and 60s is covering up. starting in march, playboy bunnies will no longer be fully nude. but in scantly clad poses. they made plain nude he photo owes pas passe. and there could be a new happily ever after in argentina. gone are the stories of rescues from a castle. and a new era of story books is featuring real life heroes. >> reporter: they have come

on it this land to show children something new. tired of classic disney stories, they invented one they called the anti-princess collection. we are working to change the model of beauty from the outside. we are saying that a woman is waiting to be rescued and waiting for a prince to change their life. the woman in the story changes it herself. the collection has two books, and another one on the way. the first tells the story of the famous mexican artist. and the second one is the history of the chilean folk singer. freedom and justice are some of the collection, and the big difference is that these princesses are not a fantasy. they're some of latin america's most respected women. >> the book is based on a south

american military leader. he tries to make each character attractive for children. >> i looked for all the pictures of the characters and i wanted to draw them in a minimalist way, simple, so the children can relate to the drawing. >> children have told us that they like the books. >> i love the books, because she sings for the poor. the lives of the women in the books were no fairy tale. she suffered from depression and killed herself. and she tried several times. >> we don't believe that children should be exposed to things that happen in the world. in this next fairytale, there's a happy ending, but in the middle, lots of terrible things happen. the mothers always die, and the sisters betray each other.

realism, it's what makes these books different. and what could inspire the new generations to come. >> that is all of the time for this news hour, i'm tony harris in new york, and john seigenthaler is back in a couple of minutes.

>> hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. >> the answer. >> the result, section of the plane broke off. it which the airplane broke in the air. >> the new report about the downing of flight mh 17. what it says