and that's the "inside story." >> this is aljazeera america. live from new york city, i'm tony harris. breaking news, police have released dash cam video of an officer shooting a black teenager. turkey shoots down a russian war plane, and russia calls it a stab in the back. and it standing in solidarity, president obama in the fight against isil. and protests for the medal of freedom. the amazing life.

and we begin with breaking news out of chicago. where authorities have just released video of a police officer shooting a black teenager to death last october. quan mcdonald was shot 16 times, at least twice in the back. today, officer van dyke was charged with first-degree murder. and we have more from chicago. andy. >> reporter: tony, flurry few reasons why the police departments and the mayor do not think that any protests that come out today or tomorrow would be that bad. here are the reasons. first of all, the videotape which is described as very chilling and graphic, is going to be treated by a lot of media outlets. ioutlets.

it would be covered. and the most graphic parts last name be shown, and there was a first-degree murder charge today against the man that the police officer was accused of shooting. 17-year-old mcquan mcdonald in 2014. the police department says despite all of that, and the murder charge was hand down today, they are of course taking precautions, and here's the superintendent, gary mccarthy. >> people have the right to be angry and protest and have a right to free speech, but they don't have the right to commit criminal acts. at the end of the day, we are prepared to facilitate the first amendment right to free speech, but we'll be intolerant of criminal behavior. >> reporter: officer van dyke is accused of shooting la quan

mcdonald 17 times, while others stood around. and the accusation is that he slashed a tire with a 3-inch knife, and in fact, he slashed a tire of a police vehicle, but he was walking away at the time of the shooting, and most importantly, according to the prosecutors, he was not lunging or doing anything threatening to officer van dyke, and he was charged today with first-degree murder. the family urged calm in all of this, and said let's keep his legacy better than that with any protests that get out of control. and the marek owed that as well. >> we need to, as a city get to a point where young men in our city see an officer, and don't just see an officer with a uniform and a batch, but as a

mannerrer. but we need to get to a place in the city where officers in uniform don't see a man as a problem and a risk, but see in the young man as an individual worthy of their potential. >> the police involved shootings, they said that they are reduced by 70%, and a lot of critics aren't buying t. and why was this officer charged hours or minutes before the release of the tape. people said that because when the tape came outer, all of the riots would happen and they wanted to prevent that and the chief prosecutor admits that yes, but they did not plan to charge the officer with murder so quickly. they planned to eventually. and this has pushed up their

timeline. but they insisted that it's not just because of the videotape or the protests that might come out of it. >> and a couple of questions if i can. both the police and the victim's family have opposed releasing the video. i wonder, is it too early to ask this? i understand that maybe at this point, just the local chicago channels have the video and are able to download it. so far? >> not really that we're getting, tony. everyone is getting -- in fact, the file that they're releasing the video on has been difficult for a lot of people to call up. and a lot of people are not showing the whole thing, and covering up the worst parts or the most graphic parts of it. or just show is it seconds before. so maybe it's possible to keep things calmer.

>> what's the next step for the officer? i suppose that he now as part of the system, he goes through the process now, officer van dyke. >> yes, held on first-degree murder charges with no bond. and he has another hearing on monday where they look at the tape in court to determine if he will be held up on bond. and the judge could reduce his murder charge, and he'll likely be going before a judge to plead his case. he's an officer with 15 years on the force with a wife and two children, and the next step for protesters is deciding what they want to do. but the main concern is not so much that he has the murder charge against him but for gary mccarthy to be booted out of his job, and that's what the protesters the next. >> all right, andy, thank you. toria hamilton is a civil rights attorney, and she joins us from chicago.

look, tory, i don't live in that city, and i know you do. i want you to describe the next few days and what they looked like in the release of this video. >> the entire chicagoland population is watching the news. it's a very important issue for people who live here, and i think that they're watching their television screens and what's happening. >> you are a civil rights attorney, and what are your thoughts? >> well, my thoughts on this, i think that of course nobody in the city would like to see any sort of violence or protest occur as a result of the release of this video, but i do think that -- >> wait a minute, torreya,

protests are fine. >> yes, they're warranted. if the state prosecutor's office has the video, since the day after this occurred. and let's say that it involved a civilian shooting, exactly the same facts, but not a police officer. in my experience as 20 years as a prosecutor, and city attorney, and now as a plaintiff civil rights attorney, that civilian would be charged with murder immediately, and not a year later, and that person would probably already be serving a prison term. >> so what's going on, torreya? what's going on here? >> well, i think that there's a long-standing history of a reluctance of prosecutors to charge police officers with crimes. i do wonder -- >> can i stop you there?

i'm scribbling a note here. would we be here without the video? >> absolutely not. >> would we be here with a first-degree murder charge without the video. and you're saying absolutely not? >> i am. in my experience, without this video, i don't think that we would be here. >> why do you say that? there were at least four other officers around, and what you're suggesting to me would be that those officers would have given similar accounts, and would have protected officer van dyke, is that what you're saying? >> i wish that i wasn't saying that to you. but that has been my experience. and i do want to -- i don't know if anybody is reporting on this, but do you know, tony, that officer van dyke, in 2009, in almost five years to the date, a jury found that officer van dyke had committed excessive force against another black man and had awarded a

$350,000 verdict against van dyke and his partner. >> yes, i learned that about 10 minutes ago, and so torreya, is there a monitor where you can see me? because i'm about to roll the video. >> i can't see you, but moments before we began in the studio, i watched it just once. >> we're going to roll it for everyone watching this now, and i want your reaction to it. all right, i'm going to roll it, and everyone knows at this point that it's graphic. we explained that top to bottom. and so it is graphic, and we're going to roll the video, and then i want your thoughts on it. okay? >> absolutely. >> all right, here we go. >> and there he is, he's hit

there. he's walking past the officers, but walking on an angle where he's moving away from the officers. all right. so torreya, you've seen it, and what are your thoughts? >> well, i'm not sure what version that you played. the version that i -- first, there was a version. >> i think that there may be 6, 7 seconds, and we play up to the point where the young man is hit by the first shot. >> well, what it appears to me is happening in the video is yes, he is not in any way -- not anywhere near another person that he could use the knife against. >> he's certainly not moving toward the officers, and not at that moment threatening an officer. >> yes, and i believe that he is actually angling away from the police officers. >> away, away. >> that's what it appears to -- and it also appeared to me, and

i just watch today once, but it appeared to me, you see he spun armed, he's spun around by being shot and he falls to the ground. and the version continues, and you can see smoke emanating from his body as he's lying on the ground and shot multiple times, and does it difficult to watch. >> so what words -- i've heard the word, execution. i don't know if that's too strong, i don't know, and i haven't seen the entire video without it being edited. how would you describe what you saw? what would you describe it as? >> i think that it's rightfully charged as first-degree murder, from what i see here on this video that i just watched. i have some questions about why it has taken a year to charge this police officer, and i have

some questions about what consequences this police officer suffered just five years before he kille killed lan mcdonald when he used excessive force on another black man. >> how much it time do we have? two minutes, and last question for you, i'll sit and watch the entire tape at some point here. when i view what i just saw and listen to the words back in my head from the mayor, talking about chicago coming to a day where a black man sees an officer as a partner, in reaching his full be potential, that sounds a little silly to me. >> yeah, i think it sounds a little silly, but i think that the sentiment is g but the only way that we're ever going to get there is if this city changes the way that it holds the bad apple police officers

accountable. there's no reason that finished have taken a year, while jason van dyke shooting a black teenage at a desk collecting a paycheck that's paid by the chicago taxpayers. we need to deal with the bad apples better, and we have a broken accountability in this city that needs to be fixed. >> thank you, torreya. glad to have you on the program. torreya hamilton is a civil rights attorney. back with more after this.

>> turkish planes today shot down a russian fighter jet near it's southern border. turkey said that russia violated it's air pace and ignored several warnings. one pilot was killed and so was a russian marina board a rescue helicopter that cape onboard while landing. the incident did not set well with russian president, vladimir putin. he warned of serious challenges. >> it was the angry language of betrayal, meeting with the syrian king. but he said that turkey had shot down a russian plane and described it as a stab in the back. >back. >> we always regarded turkey as a neighbor and friendly state. and instead of contacting us immediately, they addressed their pilots as if it was us

who downed their plane. >> russia's defense ministry said that it was not true that they were in turkish airspace or that it was warn bid turkish jets. >> there were no it attempts on the part of the turkish jet to communicate. a rocket hit the plane over syrian territory. according to the preliminary data, one of the pilots was killed in the air when fired on from the ground. >> russia's first response was that lavrov canceled diplomatic session was turkey. russians said that it was unsafe for them to travel to turkey, one of their favorite tourist destinations, and of military responses, a russian warship has been set to the

coastline and the cooperation with turkey's armed forces has been stopped. but worries of serious escalations of hostilities are being downplayed. >> we don't think that this will lead to military considerations in turkey, for reasons of turkey being in the nato lines, and russia wouldn't be interested in that. turkey wouldn't go to war with russia over there, but what was the most likely intention of turkey in doing so was to assert its boundaries. >> russia may well look for more ways to retaliate, possibly ramping up the air campaign against turkey's favorite groups in syria, it has just suffered it's combat fate at, and lost an expensive war plane and a helicopter. in the hands of isil or other

rebels, it would have been continued an acceptable cost of war, but it didn't. it was inflicted by a country that russia said that it treated as a friend. aljazeera, moscow. >> okay, aljazeera jamie mcintyre is live for us at the pentagon, and look, we have the claims from turkey and the claims from the russians and what happened here? >> well, let me set the scene for you a little bit. this is 9:00 in the morning, and it's a bright, clear day. the syrian forces are launching in the north where the rebels are being help bid russian air power, and that's when this russian plane, two seater, was shot down by the syrian -- i'm sorry, by the turkish f-16s. and turkey released a flight radar tracking map to show that they believe the plane went over turkish territory, just briefly over this likely finger that sticks down into syria for

probably, they said 17 seconds, so there are two versions of the story. the turkish version was that the planes were warned ten times over a five-minute period that they were approaching turkish airspace and a they were to turn south. and they said that they got no response from the planes, and the planes went 1.6 miles into turkey and as i said, 17 seconds moving through, and they said that they fired on one the russian planes while it was in the turkish airspace, and then it crashed on the syrian side of the border. the russians say that the plane never entered their airspace and never got any warnings, and it came into syrian airspace, and that's why it crashed into syria, the united states came down and said, turkey has an absolute right to defend its airspace, but we have not

checked the facts, so they didn't come out and defend turkey. >> how do they build this coalition with russia to take on isil? >> reporter: not to be overall dramatic, i think that it went down in flames with that airplane. here's the bottom line, the pentagon, the u.s. military has no interest in being in a coalition with russia. they don't believe that russia's air campaign meets modern standards. they're using unguided munitions, and the pentagon accused them of causing up to 1,000 civilian fatalities, including hundreds of children. and the prospects look really dim now. >> this incident is threatening to threaten relations between russia and turkey, obviously. patty is here with more other that. on

that. >> reporter: of course this is a very complicated relationship that we're talking about, tony. nato has claimed that russia's recent incurrings into turkey's airspace are not accident, and putin said that there would be consequences but not military in nature. and that response underscores the common interests and competing agendas in turkish and russian regulations. russian president, vladimir putin, pulled no punches tuesday when describing turkey's downing of a russian war plane near the syrian border. >> today's event is a stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists. >> reporter: calling off foreign minute itster, sergei lavrov's visit to ankora, and warning russian citizens to stay away from turkish resorts. in measured terms. [ foreign dialogue ] >> we're feeling distress for

such an incident, but the actions are fully in line with turkey's rules of engagement that have been declared before. turkey does not harbor enmity toward its neighbors. >> reporter: they include plans to build a pipeline to pump russian gas to turkey and on to europe, but the two countries have competing agendas in syria, with armed groups supported by turkey, and where russia has been accused of airstrikes on assad's enemies, the airstrikes are behind putin's calls for a grand coalition to fight isil. >> the europeans are already gravitating toward a russian point of view, which is assad stays in power. >> clashes were turkey's coalition with assad, and

fighters who want to declare a homeland in the southern part of turkey. >> the assad state is fighting kurdish forces, and to the extend that they can bring the kurds to heel, that's something in turkey's interests. >> reporter: turkey is also reeling from last month's twin suicide bombing at a pro kurdish peace rally in ankora, that killed 100 people, to which turkey blamed on isil. >> reporter: of now, given the claim that russia has violated its airspace recently, there's no word on how it may have played in the decision to shoot down the war planes. >> patty with us, french president, francoise hollande came to the white house to meet with president obama about escalating the fight against isil in the wake of the deadly attacks in paris. there are new details in that.

and belgium has issued an international arrest warrant for a suspect named mohamed abrin. he was seen at a gas station, and the french prosecution revealed the name of the attacks. and the man who stayed in the apartment has been charged with terrorism. more on the two leaders meeting and mike viqueira, mike. >> reporter: tony, good evening, and there are two elements. one is to defeat is on the ground, but the other is not military one, but a diplomatic one negotiated around the table in vienna, and the fashionses of the world powers talking

about the assad regime. but after the events of the last 24 hours, a complicated attack became more so. with the conflict looming between russia and turkey, president obama wants to stop events from getting out of happened. >> my top priority is to ensure that this does not escalate. >> reporter: french president, francois hollande agrees, and he asked for allied unity against isil in the wake of the paris attacks. >> today, we want on the occasion of that meeting, first of all, to share our determination, relentless determination to fight terrorism anywhere and everywhere. >> reporter: even as france and u.s.-led coalition step up the attacks on isil, he said french soldiers won't go into syria. and he stressed the diplomatic

push underway in very ena. but the leaders vow to keep russia out of those talks, unless they start with their air attacks against isil. >> russia is the out liar, and we hope that they refocus their attention on what is the most substantial threat and they serve as a constructive partner >> reporter: for president obama, his meeting with hollande was meant to stress unit, not just within france, but with the united states, and syrian refugees, and whether they should gain entry into the united states is a major issue. last week at the g20, mr. obama scholled those who wanted to keep them from the u.s., and

his tone was criticized. he said that he understands why some are nervous. >> to be vigilant, we continue and will not succumb to fear. >> reporter: tony, for european nations to share intelligence across borders, and today, the european nations to get together to share more information, and particularly to share airline passenger information, something that's evidently not done right now. >> mike, president hollande is going to meet with the russian president, and is there any chance that he can get the russian president on the same page as prance and the united states in this fight against the islamic state? >> tony, it's a dicey proposition, everyone on the edge of their seats now, knowing that being turkey is a nato ally, seeing what vladimir

putin does in retaliation, in the alleged shooting down of the plane over the russian airspace. before this happened, the white house was looking to president putin, thinking that he was going to have a change of heart in the wake of the downing of the russian charter jet over the sinai peninsula. and so waiting to see what happens, but president obama and it president hollande pushing for a diplomatic solution today. michael kaufman, in the wilson center, and he has advised the u.s. on matters concerning russia, and michael, good to have you on the program. i heard you say, in listening to some of your talks in the past, that president putin and president erdowan have a good relationship, and that was confirmed today by the russian

president using language like this is a stab in the back, and what happened here? >> well, it's clearly becoming rapidly past tense. it seems what happened, and to be clear, this does not seem to be preorder detained or plotted by turkish politicians, sergei was supposed to meet with them tomorrow. we apologized for the incidents, and these date back to what began with russian intervention and defense policy. >> i'm going to get into that with you in a moment. and is it clear to you in a russia won't retaliate militarily, and if that's the case, would it be some kind of

intervention, and if so, how could that effect turkey and the rest of europe? >> no, i don't think that russia is going to retaliate militarily, it doesn't make a lot of sense, and it's impractically, i think that russia is already beginning to recalliate economically. they're already suspending air travel to turkey, which affects turkish tourism. but turkish labor and companies do construction in russia, and russian tourists travel to turkey for vacation, and they depend on russian energy, and as a result of this, i think that not immediately, but quickly, there will be first visible steps, and then steps that are less visible than inflicting significant economic costs on turkey for what they

have done. >> why is russia reacting this way with syria? vladimir putin doesn't care for assad personally, does he? and if he does, is it to send a message to other potential client states in the region, when your relationship with america sours, and it likely will, we'll be there to do whatever tracks agency al relationship and business that's required? >> well, you know,. >> it's interesting that you say client states, syria is russia's only client state. syria is an ally with russia, and you see really a convergence of powers in syria. russia being one, the most serious, and china being second. and assad is a lot more devious, because china is supplying a lot of the loans for assad to buy a lot of the

russian hardware, and the reason that they're involved in syria is they want syria to be the breaking point for regime change and democracyization. the stakes are higher for russia. if russia can trade away assad tomorrow, they won't lose much. >> i ask this of you. can the french president find a way to build a coalition, including the americans and assad's regime where we set a set of goals to agree on a set of goals for the endgame on this before they can have this coalition to fight isis? >> i think that the coalition with russia, that's moving forward, and there seems to be more conversion between russia and the united states as far as what it looks like. but as far as coalitions go, i

listened to the joint statement today between hollande and president obama, and he cannot push the u.s. president on any kind of ground force, and the u.s. president continues to push that it's working no matter what's happening in paris, and i think that when hollande on thursday travels, he's going to find response, moral and political support, but no change in the russian policy either. >> a fellow at the wilson center in washington d.c. and thank you. still on the program, a chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of a black teen, despite pleas from the family.

family

>> back to chicago now, where the police just released dash cam video of the shooting of a black teen. a warning, it's pretty graphic stuff. and we're only showing a few seconds of it. laquan was shot 16 times, in the back. and charged with first-degree murder, the officer who shot him. >> tony, the police department and the city are hoping that the protests will not be as bad as some people anytime have predicted, mainly because the protesters got what they wanted. mainly a first-degree murder charge against van dyke, that

you saw in 2014. van dyke and a few officers cornered this young man, he was slashing tires and breaking into vehicles along the city street. he did have pcp in his system and a 3-inch knife in his hand. but only jason van dyke fired the shots. all 16 of them that killed this young man, and he did it just six seconds before getting out of his vehicle on the scene. the prosecutors say that for them, it was the catalyst of the first-degree murder charge. and it took a year to get to this point. the officer's attorney said that what people are watching in the video are not what officer van dyke was seeing and feeling at the time. but it backs up witnesses who say that laquan was not lunching at the officers in any way, but simply trying to get away.

that's the rub, but the protesters have gotten what they wanted. and the big deal to get the first-degree murder charge against officer van dyke. >> the question that i would have asked if i was in the news conference today, do we know why it took so long for this first-degree murder charge? this happened in october of 2014. >> reporter: you know, everyone asks that question, and it's like an unmoveable force meeting an irresistible object, they say. the press says, why does it take so long? because in baltimore in south carolina, the employees result in the indicts very quickly in those cases? why did it take over a year? the prosecutors say we had to be tenacious and very thoroughly look over all of the evidence, and also the feds got involved and they wanted to be thorough about this. but there's a lot of cynicism

about the politicalization of this. the officer was charged right before the video came up. and the prosecutors say that it did pushup the video timetable. but however, it did not influence our decision to charge him with murder. that was always going to happen. >> so the officers are saying that it doesn't say what officer van dyke was feeling at the time. and it seems that they're going to set it up for self defense, and ultimately the case that the officer felt some kind of fear for his safety. is that what it sounds like to you? >> yeah, the attorney said all along, he felt fear for his life, and the shooting was justified. but it will be up to a judge to make that decision. >> all right, i wanted to make sure that we were hearing the same thing. thank you, andy in chicago. and that was just one in nearly

400 gun deaths, and nearly 3,000 shootings in chicago in the last year, but behind each of these are stories of fear and loss. and sarah traveled to the heart of that area. that has been dubbed a shy rock to speak to people living with these statistics every day. and she joins us with more. sarah, you've spent a lot of time in chicago over the last year. >> reporter: that's right, and we spent time with people hiding behind those numbers, fighting for chicago. including one mother who lost a son to gun violence, who turned her pain into purpose. it's just before 8:00, and she's already running behind. the chicago mother of three is rushing to get her 17-year-old son, trey, to school, not just on time, but alive. it was nining years ago that pam's oldest son, terrell, was

shot and killed right before band practice. terrell was outside of a church, helping a friend unload his drums from the car when the shots rang out. he was 18 years old. she left a 20-year career in banking to start purpose over pain, a support group for parents who lost children to gun violence. pam now works at a catholic church, a fixture on the south side, locals call it shy rack. the memorial wall is dedicated to victims of gun violence. >> i protect him the best that i could, me and my husband, because of guns in the neighborhood, my baby is not here. just like it happened to me, it could happen to anybody, no matter how hard you try to protect your child.

chicago has had nearly 400 homicides this year. mostly the young. >> he was in college, and doing all of the right stuff, and it tells me that nobody is exempt from this violence. >> pastor mike has been involved since the 1980s. >> we create the perfect storm and it's hard to value your life when society tells you that you're not be valuable. >> lamar overseas the youth program at the ark. dedicated to peace. >> can we fix this? >> yeah, we can, but will we? we have given up to them. once again, her gun violence

support group, join forces to host the basketball tournament. to give youth in the community a safe place to be, even if it's just a few hours. >> why do you stay in chicago and do what you do? >> i'm the voice of terrell, all that he has left. and i do this on behalf of him. and i'll be doing this until i die, and i believe that change is going to come. >> despite the high numbers, tony, these people are still working hard because they believe that if they save one life, it's worth it. >> they call it chyraq. and do they feel invisible in chicago?

>> where is the help, and where's the reinforcement for everything that we're living under? >> how do they describe, the people in this area, their relationship with the police? >> a lot of people say that it's somewhat contentious, and it's an us versus them, though the residents know that they need the police at times, they don't necessarily feel connect to them. >> sarah, thank you, and you can see more of sarah's report tonight. got to get to the break here, and up next, shots fired as black lives matter protesters in minneapolis, at least two protesters under arrest.

>> police in minneapolis have arrested a 23-year-old white man following last night's shootings, as demonstrations erupted, while dozens are protesting the police precinct against jamar clarke, an unarmed black man. today, they took to the streets in solidarity. and more from diane eastabrook >> reporter: it turned chaotic as several approached the police station sunday night. >> they hit over here, and one of them started reach and go backing up. >> reporter: the police say that the shooting started just

before 11 p.m., leaving five injured. protesters called the shooters white supremacists. >> what happened last night was a planned hate crime and an act of terrorism against those who have been in the pre-since against jamar clarke. >> he was a man shot by the police during a scuffle november 15th. and he died the next day of a gunshot wound to the head. since then, the protesters have been outside of the precinct, demanding video of the shooting. so far, authorities have refused to release that video, but the new shooting puts the pressure on officials. they are investigating along with the fbi and the justice department. but black lives matter say that white supremacists started visiting last week, and this points to the facebook page. >> yes, we're locked and

loaded. it was taken from a live stream, and it appears to show two men making racist slurs and talking about the protests. minneapolis police say that they're aware of the tape. >> barack lives matter fight against the supremacy. >> in the twin cities, earlier this month, several families slapped minnesota with a class action lawsuit, saying that it let the twin cities seg grate schools, they compare the racial tensions here to those in ferguson, missouri. >> we have called it the jim crow north. and yes, it's ferguson, and they didn't know it until now. >> betsy hodges abhors the shootings. they have no place in our city.

>> diane eastabrook, aljazeera. >> for a look at the top of the hour, it's david schuster. >> we will stay on top of the story in chicago after a video it released of a police officer shooting a teenager 16 times, and we'll talk about the effect that it's having on the community. and providing opportunity for people living in the inner cities. in other news, we have seen the fighter jetting shot down, and how nato and western countries can work with russia to try to deescalate the situation in syria. and plus, donald trump, questioning now many of his claims, and we'll look at trump's appeal and dissect the fears growing about him in the republican establishment. and also tonight, the theory of relativity was a century ago, when albert einstein's theory

changed everything, and how the equation goes well beyond academia and science, and has penetrated everyday life. >> see you at the tonight hour. when barbra streisand and steven spielberg received the medal of freedom hours ago, you heard billy franks jr.. >> guys would come up the river with their boats. >> the story of a native american activist and his fight for the right to fish.

>> today, 17 americans were awarded the nation's highest civilian honor. the presidential medal of freedom. president obama paid homage to americans, and among them, katherine johnson. >> as an african-american woman, job options were limited but she was eventually hired for one of 17 mathematicians for the agency that would become nasa. katherine calculated the flight path for america's first mission in space. the path that put neil armstrong on the moon. she was even asked to double check the computer's map on john glenn's order around the earth. >> did you know that? filmmaker, steven spielingberg,

and willie mays. and another, billy frank, frank is best-known for his role in the fish wars of the 60s and 70s. and the campaign for disobedience in the fishing ranks. franks died in 2014, and allen schauffler spoke to him months before his death. >> this is where the game wardens come down on all of us. i was 14 when i got arrested here. >> reporter: early last year, the banks of the squally river, frank gave me a history lesson. >> i just kept getting arrested. and went in the marine corp in '52, and got out in '54, and started going back to jail again. >> reporter: just months before his death, frank looked

back on the fish wars of half a century ago. >> we were fighting battles, right and left all the time. and you know, it's just -- you know, we would beat the hell out of them guys. we had hallreside, bringing in a load of rocks, and the guys would come up in the boats and we would pepper them. >> it was a fight for treaty rights, for the right to harvest salmon. >> we had a treaty with the united states in 1916, and that treaty was wrote up for using the custom be fishing grounds, which was all of this country, and the state of washington then started writing laws against us. the game wardens, at that time, 24 hours a day. we just kept going fishing, and

there were six of us who kept going back to jail. their fight landed in federal court with frank and other activists won a landmark decision guaranteeing broad fishing rights. >> i think everybody listened to billy, and they took his message to mark anderson who documente their life for decades said that victory won't be forgotten. >> billy will live forever. he was one of the people that pointed out to all the other tribal members if we stand up and stay together we're going to get there and protect the fish. >> willie frank jr. honored with the highest civilian award. did you ever think about stopping fishing? >> no, hell no. i mean, our whole life is about

salmon. >> he said before he died he wanted to be remembered simply as a fisherman. history will tell a bigger story. alan shove ler, al jazeera, washington. >> what a life and what a man, and that's all of our time. i'm tony harris. thanks for watching. david shuster is back with today's news right now. a russian war plane has not been shot down by a noto country in more than 60 years. today that changed with they attacked a russian fighter jet with air-to-air missiles. it plunged to the ground in flames with one crew member confirmed dead. it ratcheted up the conflict between moscow and the west over syria's civil war, and it may complicate efforts there to battle isil. we start with jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. >> officials here at the pentagon were quick to confirm turkey's action but they were just as quick to add that no u.s. planes were involved and this was ate