tv News Al Jazeera November 25, 2015 12:00pm-12:31pm EST
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welcome back. it is now 12:00 east coast time. that is the roosevelt room at the white house. we are awaiting president obama. he is going to call out and address security concerns in the united states. he has been meeting with his national security team throughout the morning. and more than anything else, he will be there to reassure the public that the white house has received nothing in the way of security threats, concerning what happened in paris. because in paris 130 dead, in those attacks that are now the topic of conversation both in the united states and overseas. lisa stark is with us.
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lisa, the white house seems to be going out of its way to reassure the public that much of the terror targets are much more hardened than they would be overseas. >> i think they are trying to tell people that they have not picked up any intelligence that would alarm them of any sort of paris-style attack. clearly targets such as airports, targets like that have been hardened significantly since 9/11. but there do remain soft targets. you can't patrol every bit of real estate where people con gri gait. over the holiday tens of millions of americans will be traveling by plane and train, so it is a heighten sense of security. we heard from metro here in
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washington, d.c. they are putting out extra patrols. and there will be extra bag checks. so people should expect an extra presence. they will notice extra security around places where we could see, could be a target, but, again, the u.s. government is telling us that there is no specific intelligence. there is not specific intelligence, indicating there would be a paris-type of attack here. and the president is meeting with his security advisors this morning to talk more broadly -- >> lisa, i hate to interrupt you. but this is the president of the united states. >> good morning, everybody. i just had a chance to meet with my national security team, including my secretary of homeland security, my fbi director, and my attorney general for a regular update on our security posture, post-paris
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and going into the holiday season. i think all of us recognize how horrific and heinous what took place in paris was, and as i said yesterday, for many of us, the events there touched a deep chord given the connection between the united states and france, the degrees to which americans see in paris a way of life that is so familiar to us here in american cities. and given the shocking images, i know that americans have been asking each other whether it's safe here, whether it's safe to fly or gather. i know the families have discussed their fears about the threat of terrorism around the dinner table, many for the first time since september 11th. and it's understandable that people worry something similar could happen here. watching the events in paris made the threat feel closer to
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home. so as we go into thanksgiving weekend, i want the american people to know is that we are taking every possible step to keep our homeland safe. first we're going after isil wherever it hides. that's been our strategy for more than a year. i'll speak about this in more detail in the coming weeks, but let me remind the american people of what our coalition of some 65 nations is doing to destroy these terrorists and defeat their ideology. our partners have conducted more than 8,000 air strikes on isil's strong holds and equipment. we have taken out key leaders. taken back territory from isil in both iraq and syria. we continue to work to choke off their financing and their supply lines, and counter their recruitment and messaging, and even as america is already supporting french air strikes in
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syria, yesterday president hollande and i agreed that our countries are going to step up that coordination even further, and do more of that work together. so we're stepping up the pressure on isil where it lives. and we will not let up. adjusting our tactics where necessary until they are beaten. that's our first goal. second, we continue to do everything possible to prevent attacks at home and abroad and to prevent mourn terrorist fighters from entering the united states or other nations. we have taken extraordinary measures to strengthen our homeland security since 9/11. we have improved upon these actions over time. any time there's an event, we learn something from it. and we continue to refine them. we continue to improve upon our
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approach as we speak. now right now, we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland, and that is based on the latest information i just received in the situation room. it is similar to the information that i -- the briefing that i received on saturday before i left on my trip last week. so as americans travel this weekend to be with their loved ones, i want them to know that our counter terrorism, homeland security and law enforcement professionals at every level are working overtime. continually monitoring threats at home and abroad. continually evaluating our security posture. they are constantly working to protect all of us. their work has prevented attacks. their efforts have saved lives. they serve every hour of every
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day for the sake of our security. they did so before paris and they do so now. without fanfare or credit, and without a break for the holidays. so the bottom line is this. i want the american people to know entering the holidays that the combined resources of our military, intelligence, and homeland security s see -- agencies are on the case. in the event of a specific credible threat, the public will be informed. we do think it's useful for people as they are going about their business to be vigilant. if you see something suspicious, say something. that's always helpful. but otherwise americans should go about their usual thanksgiving weekend activities, spending time with family and friends, and celebrating our blessings. and while the threat of
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terrorism is a troubling reality of our age, we are both equipped to prevent attacks, and we are resilient in the face of those who would try to do us harm, and that's something we can all be thankful for. happy thanksgiving, everybody. >> the president of the united states speaking about eight minutes from the roosevelt room at the white house, saying perhaps, i guess it might been the closest thing to a fire side chat we have seen since the paris attacks. the president saying what so many in his administration have been saying, so many leaders in so many cities have been saying that being that there are no credible security threats to the united states, but he said if things would change, his administration would notify the american public. and i was thinking about text alerts, that was something that was not there so many years ago.
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and i was thinking also how the new normal goes back to the first hijacking of airplanes, and now you have concrete barricades up after oklahoma city okay. so this is just the latest mass nation in what has been a very dangerous world. >> it is. and he also mentioned that we continue to learn from these attacks, these incidents around the u.s. , and continue to adjust what we're doing in response to those. and you can see that with the barricades, with having to take your shoes off, not being able to take certain liquids through. so they do continually try to make adjustments if they see something that might be a security hole. and i did find it interesting that the president said if things change, if we find out there is something that we're worried about through intelligence chatter, we will let the american people know. sort of insinuating to folks or
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telling them, don't worry, we have it under control, if you don't hear from us, go about your thanksgiving. but he understands that people are worried and concerned, but, again, he just wants to reassure people that folks are working overtime, he said, to keep americans safe. >> is it too late to wax nostalgia to the days where you can run through the airport 15 minutes before a flight? >> reporter: clearly those days are gone. they are trying to streamline security for everybody, but i think folks understand that we need to be safe as much as sometimes we don't like standing in those lines, folks understand that we need to be safe, and at least we're hoping that the layered security that they say
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we have, will in fact do the job and prevent anything like we have seen in the past. >> lisa stark for us in washington, d.c., thank you very much. and the security experts say if you are planning on flying, you might want to add 45 minutes on to your trip if you are traveling domestically. if you are traveling overseas they ask you to be two to three hours in advance. but they don't think that there is going to be a bottleneck. we're going to take a brief break. we'll be right back. ♪
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more protests are planned today in chicago after the release of a graphic video showing a white police officer repeatedly shooting and killing a black teen. the demonstrations filling the city streets. the video showed the teenager being shot 16 times and killed by officer jason van dyk. van dyk is in jail right now, charged with first degree murder. andy what is the latest in chicago? >> reporter: we're an advertise mating demonstrators to show up here in a middle while.
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in the meantime, inside the building there are black activists talking to the media saying we want a coaching change. we want the police superintendent to be booted, and the state's attorney to be out of her job as well. this all comes after that officer was charged with first degree murder. and some members of the chicago city council's blah caucus spoke. >> we know there is more than one la quan mcdonald. while the individual facts may differ, there are many who's rights have been violated, because their lives were deemed not to matter. >> reporter: the police superintendent says look, we have made changes in policies over the last four years, he says the somebody of police-involved shootings have gone down about 60% since he took over.
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so he says they are moving in the right direction and this is a learning moment for them. and the state's attorney said they just wanted to make sure they got it right. del. >> hundreds taking to the streets of chicago last night, peaceful protests, very local, though. are we expecting more after today's news conference with the family? >> hard to say at this moment, del, the good news for the activists is that this officer did face a first degree murder charge, and that was the number one thing they wanted. one black activist told us, look, he feels like a lot of the older black pasters in chicago are sort of in bed with the city administration over the years, and they are not being as active as these younger people are about trying to effect change. so it is kind of a push and pull between the older guard and the younger guard who want to stir things up a little bit. >> andy thank you very much.
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>> this linked the mafia and the church. >> why do you think you didn't get the medal of honor? >> i can't allow you not to go into that because that is your job. >> we gonna bring this city back one note at a time. >> proudest moment in my life. turning now to that downed russian war plane, the kremlin now saying one of its pilots is alive and well. also the turkish foreign minister saying the two nations will hold talks trying to ease the tensions. moscow was penning military cooperation with turkey earlier this morning. and it says it is ready to destroy, quote, any dangerous air targets. >> reporter: the language coming
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out of ankara has been one of deescalation, whilst turkey is not saying it is sorry for downing the russian jet, they say the military was merely protecting turkey's borders, and that it targeted that aircraft without knowing the nationality of it. it is saying they don't want this incident to be blown out proportion or to be escalated into deteriorating relationships between ankara and moscow. the turkish prime minister, for example, has come out with reconci reconci reconci reconciletory tones. and they held a one-hour conversation to try to rectify the situation. moscow said this will not go
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without retaliation. they are hearing they may cancel trade relations between russia and turkey. the contention here isn't only about the downing of this jet. it is about syria, and the civil war there. russia has been conducting several military air strikes over the past couple of weeks in syria, claiming it is targeting isil. turkey says it is actually targeting opponents of bashar al-assad and the syria regime. how these -- how things will play out in the next couple of days is very important indeed, because the situation in syria is already so fragmented and
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tense that adding an extra layer of contention will only make things worse. canada is out with its plan to resettle syrian refugees. it says 10,000 syrians will be accepted by the end of the year. another 15,000 will be taken in, he says by the end of february. the government saying it wants to make sure the right security checks are in place. vice president biden is in croatia this morning. he is set to talk about are issues in he region including energy and trade. there's a new video out that explains the exact steps and detailed screenings involved in allowing refugees into the united states. >> she must then undergo a
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security screening process that is more thorough than any other person coming into this country. >> allantown, pennsylvania has one of the oldest syrian communities in the u.s. but new syrian refugees are mostly mainly muslim and that is creating tensions. ♪ >> reporter: at a multi-faith prayer service to welcome new syrian refugees to pennsylvania's lehigh county, the reverend urged all of those in attendance to open their hearts to them. the mayor said he will continue its strong prorefugee stance. >> i want these families to know
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first off they are welcome here. [ applause ] ♪ >> reporter: but outside the church was a much smaller, chilliier re exception. don wrights says the refugees have not prop -- been properly vetted. the conference of churches started planning this event almost one month ago, but they almost postponed it. the executive director told me there were real security concerns, but they decided to go ahead in support of the syrian refugees. ♪ who's bright stripes and bright stars ♪ >> but in spite of the open arms of the attendees, none of the refugees were there. this woman and her family are active members of the muslim
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community. >> the residents are very uptight at this event. the syrian refugees were supposed to at ten, but they didn't because -- out of fear, they were afraid of backlash against them. >> reporter: but it's a more than a fear of backlash from americans. >> we love assad. because he protects us. 99% of the people i know in the lehigh valley with syrian background supports assad. >> reporter: this father says he preaches love and not hate. but friction between his syrian community and the refugees is clear. >> you have to be very careful. >> reporter: the newly arrived families also worry that
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informants in the pro-assad community could endanger their relatives in syria. it lead leaves the mayor in a difficult position. >> reporter: my little microcosm here, my stance is we're going to continue to welcome thuz folks and continue to live out our beliefs that we are going to welcome the stringers it has been 100 years since albert einstein changed the world. e-equals mcsquared allowed scientists to discover black matter, and it is the reason for gps, and it bares points out that albert einstein and others
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security concerns as americans hit the road for thanksgiving, the president talking about it from the white house. protests on the streets of chicago, anger and calls for action after a dash cam video is made public that shows an officer shooting a black teenager over and over again. and easing tensions, turkey and russia both urging peace after the russian war plane is shot down. ♪ this is al jazeera america live in new york city. i'm del walters. president obama addressing the nation last hour, reassuring ic
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