you can of course keep up to date with all the news i've been telling you about if you head over to our website. you can see the front page there with our lead story, the situation in iraq, owl that for you at aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com. calls for sweeping police reform in chicago. will the call for a new police superintendent calm tensions in the city. a supreme court justice suggestion affirmative action puts african-american students in schools that may be too challenging. lawmakers on capitol hill voted to end the era of no child left behind.

>> this is aljazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. chicago police will explain today how they plan top hire a new superintendent. that one day after mayor rahm emanuel called for far reaches reforms. demonstrators are this morning holding a die-in over the shootings deaths of laquan mcdonald and ronald john within, demanding that the mayor and top prosecutor resign. >> i should have given voice to the public's growing suspicion, distrust and anger. >> rahm emanuel said he should have done more to change

policies that tie his hands on how he is allowed to respond to police shootings, specifically that police videos can't be released while an investigation is ongoing. >> i own it. i take responsibility for what happened, because it happened on my watch. >> earlier in a rare address to the chicago city council, rahm emanuel gave a slow angry burn of a speech saying the city residents deserve answers and corrective action and will get both. he said restoring broken trust will take a long time. at times, everyone in the room could hear the protests happening right outside council chambers, but emmanuel was tough on the police department, too, promising to end the code of silence among officers. >> police are not protecting the city of chicago when they see something and then say nothing. >> he got emotional when talking about policing in black neighborhoods, how those residents often aren't getting the respect from police they deserve. >> that has to change in this city.

that has to come to an end and end now. no citizen is a second class citizen in the city of chicago. >> still, protestors were not impressed. >> that sounds like he had a great speechwriter. that's what that sounds like. i don't believe a word that he says. >> this should have happened years and years and years ago. you can't say you got to get the apple off the tree. you can't get him out the barrel, the barrel is spoiled. >> this controversy blew up with the release of a dashcam video showing a police officer shooting a black teenager dead. it took a year for the release of the tape and the officer to be charged with murder. all the officers' sworn accounts of the shooting that night seem to contradict what was on the video. with the release of more police videos looming, there are likely more protests ahead. al jazeera, chicago.

critics of mayor manual are unhappy with how his office handled this series of shootings and asking for an independent investigation. that because there are a lot of people who feel like there was a coverup, that this video did not come out because there was an election and it could have very well swayed the outcome that have election. because of that, if he wants to be transparent, if he wants to be forgiven, if he wants us to believe and trust him again, why not allow an investigation into the mayor's office so all of us can know whether this was hidden or whether he's right, that he did not see the video and put it out in a timely fashion. we never will know the truth unless there's an independent investigation of that. >> a weekend poll found 51% of chicago residents think the mayor should resign. chicago voter reelected him in a runoff earlier this year. the trial is resuming for a baltimore police officer charged

in the death of freddie gray. wednesday, he took the stand in his own defense. his testimony at times became heated. al jazeera said john henry smith has more. >> 26-year-old william porter was on the stand for four hours. he told jurors he never thought freddie gray was injured, insisting he seemed alert during a 45 minute ride in the back of a police van on april 12. the ride ended with gray having suffered a spine injury that would prove fatal. [ screaming ] >> prosecutors pressed porter on what he did that day, why gray was not seatbelted in and why the officer never called for a medic. porter said he felt he and gray had mutual respect and he was upset over his death. while seatbelts on prisoners is department policy, officer porter testified he never saw one used on the job or during weeks of training in the police academy, and porter testified that he relayed gray's request for a doctor to the driver of

the van, officer goodson during the fourth of six stops that day. no medical attention was sought until the final stop when porter said he found gray unresponsive. grape's death sparked violent protests in baltimore and with the defense presenting its case, the jury could get to weigh in soon. baltimore's mayor blake is urging residents to stay calm once a verdict is announced. >> we have to respect their opinion. we don't have to agree with it at all. that's not what this is about, but this is about respecting the process and respecting our city. john henry smith, al jazeera. we're hearing from the man accused of killing three people at a planned parenthood clinic, robert dear saying he was guilty. on court, he interrupted the prosecutor laying out the murder charges against him. >> kill the babies, that's what planned parenthood does. >> we need to protect the

constitutionality of these proceedings. >> protect the babies! >> dear had nearly 20 outbursts during the hearing. his lawyer said he had serious concerns about his client's competence. the next hearing i go schedule would right before christmas. a 27-year-old victim of the san bernardino shootings will be the first to be laid to rest. investigators want to know if one attacker platted the attack years ago. >> san bernardino involved two killers who were at centralized for quite a long time before their attack. >> f.b.i. director james comey said sayed farook and his wife tashfeen malik began talking about carrying out terror attacks months before. >> they were radicalized before they started courting or dating each other on line and on line

as early as the end of 2013, they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged and married and lived together in the united states. >> testifying before a senate judiciary committee hearing on capitol hill, director comey said the couple's radicalization began before the emergence of isil. farook left california for a trip to saudi arabia in july 2014, where the two met face-to-face for the first time. they got engaged and traveled together to the u.s., and were married in august, 2014. comey said he can't say if the relationship was arranged by a group as part of a plot to carry out attacks in the u.s., but agrees with lawmakers that such a scenario would be a game-chainer. >> it would be a very very important thing to know. >> last week it emerged that malik pledged allegiance to isil on facebook just before the shootings. the f.b.i. found no direct link between the couple and isil or any other terror group. >> we're also working very hard

to understand whether there was anybody else involved with assisting them, with supporting them, with equipping them. >> that includes farook's relative by marriage and former neighbor, enrique marquez. marquez and farook had planned an attack on the u.s. as far back as 2012. it's not clear why the two never went forward with the plot. marquez, a muslim convert, checked himself into a mental facility after the shootings and hasn't been charged and is not a suspect in last week's terror attack, but investigators have conducted extensive interviews with marquez trying to determine if he sold or gave the couple the weapons that used in the shootings so his name wouldn't be connected to the weapons.

the first group of syrian migrants will arrive in canada. the military aircraft will carry 150 people to toronto. al jazeera's robert ray is awaiting those arrivals at toronto's pearson international airport. what do we know about the refugees and how is the canadian government preparing to resettle them? >> it's a few hundred syrian refugees, with families, children, elderly, men, women, coming today. they are expected to land about 9:15 a.m. tonight at a very specific terminal called the inland terminal here at the international airport. prime minister justin trudeau will be there this evening to welcome them. they are expected to be processed fairly rapidly through a special area. if there's children, they made a play area for them. there will be food and beverages. after the processing is done, they'll be sent to a local hotel

where at that point, there will be a decision as to what community these families are sent to. there are up to 60 different communities in the area that are welcoming them, but yesterday, the immigration minister spoke about security measures and he was very confident. let's listen. >> we have a pool of over a million from which to choose, and so, if one of the officials doing the interview has any reason to question an individual case, well, that case would be put to the side and he or she will go on with other cases. >> they are expecting up to 10,000 syrian refugees to come here into canada, whether it be toronto ormont troll by the end of december, so a lot of people that they are prosing. >> what's the public reaction been like to the government's plan to take in this many refugees at this pace? >> so far, public reaction is

fairly good. a recent poll by bloomberg in november showed that about 65% of canadians accept the syrian refugee in flux here, they're ok with it. if you compare that to u.s. numbers, 28% of the people in america are for this, so a big different there. it just seems there's more of a welcoming malt here for the syrian refugees and the newly elected prime minister is very confident and says that this will be a very happy day when these folks arrive tonight. >> we'll look forward to your updates throughout the day. >> 21 syrian refugees do to arrive in the accident, a federal judge blocked the state's attempt to stop the families from resettling in houston. texas is one of more than two dozen states opposed to taking in syrian refugees, arguing there could be isil operatives among the migrants.

one is dead in storms hitting the pacific northwest. heavy rains have been falling for nearly a week in places like portland that caused a tree to fall, hitting and killing to woman inside. several highways are closed this morning. many roads are completely flooded. phased out, why congress is dropping the no child left behind law and what it means for students. a supreme court justice scalia said affirmative action may not help black students who get into colleges.

>> a deeper look at the divide in chicago. >> a lot of people here are angry.

>> we can do something different. more than two dozen iraqi soldiers were killed today taking rimadi from isil. that effort is being questioned in washington, some lawmakers are calling the strategy flawed. defense secretary ash caster said the pentagon offered additional assistance. >> the beyond is prepared to assess the iraqi army with additional unique capabilities to help them finish the job, including attack helicopters and accompanying advisors if requested by president abadi. >> the counter terrorism operation center announced they have taken key parts oary employedi city in the last 24

hours. first le, they say they've taken one of the largest neighborhoods in the southwest that is very important. it has two bridges which will take you into the center o rimadi. they've taken back the command center, a key military base. the fight isn't over yet. isil are fighting back now that they are very close to the center of the town, they are within isil shelling and mortar range and we've seen attacks take place. 27 soldiers have been killed, 36 injured. ash carter said if the prime minister is willing to ask for more helping taking rimadi, the u.s. is willing to give them the help. this has led to some could not fused people here in iraq.

i've been speaking to lawmakers and to iraqi citizens about what this might mean and they say well, prime minister abadi has asked for help already. airstrikes going on, u.s. helicopters supporting iraqi troops, they are getting the kind of help they need. they don't know where these comments have come from. it may will be this is intended for u.s. domestic audience, trying to explain the u.s. role within the coalition to u.s. citizens themselves, particularly as the war against isil is ramping up. >> that is imran kahn on the ground in erbil, iraq. >> mike lyons understanded policies may be add odds with the u.s. >> these sunni based countries are more concerned fighting against iran and making sure sunnis have a place inside iraq than they care about fighting

isis. that's driving their foreign policy. they're not that interested -- >> that and also yemen, and getting assad out of power than fighting isil. >> that's right. they're concerned that what does iraq look like when this is all over? is it going to be dominated by iran, will iraw be this weakened point. turkey for example having troops in the north, they're concerned about the future kurdistan, which is on the table, has to be talked about. that's the next war taking place there, this battle for this group, autonomy of kurdistan and turkey can't have that happen. >> iraq is now accusing turkey of putting ground troops in northern iraq. turkey, the turkish president told al jazeera this morning that they were invited to go in, so that's what kind of cluster we're looking at. is it wise for the u.s. to get more involved in the midst of these sectarian and regional rivalries that go back decades? >> we've got to accept the fact that there's not going to be this ground force that is going to take out isis for a while at least inside iraq.

it doesn't make sense to get involved with these civil wars. >> lyons said there need to be alternatives found to boots on the ground, including pressuring turkey. >> donald trump changed his mind about visiting israel at least for now. earlier this morning, he announced in a tweet: the israel prime minister had been urged to cancel the december 28 meeting after trump called for keeping muslims from entering the u.s. and after his controversial comments to a jewish group. there's anger over something a u.s. justice said during arguments wednesday.

a white student who claimed she she was denied entry to the university of texas because of race. justice anton scalia saying the program is flawed, saying: >> britney cooper is an assistant professor at rutgers university and writes about race relations. >> scalia continues to have abhorrent race politics. he's really at the center of an activist court that is deeply committed to dismantling every major racial justice program that we legally achieved in the 20th century, and so this blatant attack on affirmative action is one more example of the way the court is attempting to take african-american citizens back to the mid 20th century in terms of our rights or possibilities in this country.

>> he's absolutely a part of this attempt to dismantle affirmative action policies. somewhere thurgood marshall is turning over his grave. the comments that justice scalia made that insinuate that historically black colleges and universities are slower institutions really suggest that he has no knowledge of history, so these schools have a history of producing more activities, p.h.d.'s, more engineers, more professor, because historically they have been the institution that african-american students could actually attended, particularly when they could not attend white institutions. it's also important to say tha >> president obama plans to sign a sweeping new education law today taking the place of no child left behind. as al jazeera's senior washington correspondent mike viqueira tells us, the rewrite gives states more say on education standards. >> the conference report is adopted. >> it's a major makeover that almost everyone loves to hate. democrats joined hands with republicans to make it happen.

>> this is the biggest rewrite of our education laws in 25 years. >> championed by president george w. bush, no child left behind was a high watermark in federal oversight in education. >> it's a piece of legislation which believes in setting high standards and using accountability to make sure every single child gets a good education. >> from the start, the law was a magnet for complaints from teachers and parents, and a symbol of federal overreach into policies many believe are best set by the states, but congress struggled for years on a rewrite until now. >> we have an opportunity today to reverse the trend of the last several years toward a national school board. we have an opportunity to make clear that the future, the path to higher standards, better teaching and real accountability will be through states, communities and classrooms and not through washington, d.c. >> the new law keeps federally required testing in grades three through eight and once in high school but the states now get more say in evaluating schools and teachers.

other measures, not just test scores could be considered, such as graduation rates and school conditions. >> the law over emphasized testing and how oftentimes, those tests are redundant or unnecessary. >> states will come up with their own plans to reform underperforming schools. more money will be sent to states to send children from low and moderate income families to preschool and common core, the education initiative hated by conservatives is now obsolete. it is welcome news by teacher groups who say the fight against overtesting now moves to the states. >> i am worried that there will be some states that think that test and sanction was a good thing to do. that would be dead wrong for kids. we need to stop that. we need to start focusing on how we get to the unique needs of children. >> 13 years after no child left behind was passed, now a greater role for the states in schools. mike viqueira, al jazeera, washington.

a solar snub, advocates are clean north korea are jump set about california's clean energy law.

>> that changes in california mean solar panels won't count towards the state's renewable energy plan.

>> we met j. marvin campbell on top of his roof. giving his solar panels a good rinse. >> these panels cover about 60% of our energy use. >> campbell and his wife mia live in culver city, california. they decided to go green 15 years ago. >> the utility, edison, you know, we got something in the bill about you should look into solar panels and everything and how we would be doing a service, helping out, helping the grid, so we said yeah, let's do that, and we did, and it's been good for us. >> it's also been good for the 400,000 other californians who have also embraced solar, lower utility costs, plus a feeling of pride helping the state reach its clean energy goals, a win-win all the way around. that was before this happened. pleasure and excitement, i sign this bill into law.

thank you. >> in october, governor jerry brown signed an ambitious piece of legislation. it requires the state to generate half its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, but rooftop solar panels don't count. >> it leaves out an important player, that is homeowners, farmers, schools and other businesses that want to be able to go solar, and right now, utilities in california are really threatened by their customers going solar, so really, what this is about, it's utilities and consumer. >> it's good for me, and if you did it would be good for you, it's just bad for edison. >> tonight, we'll tell you why solar panels are excluded from the mandate to go green. >> you can watch the full report tonight at 8:00 eastern. thanks for watching. the news continues next live from doha. have a great day.

>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour, i'm sami zeidan in doha. coming up in the next 60 minutes. iraq suffers more losses in ramadi, as the u.s. says it is ready to help retake the city from isil. gulf leaders are insisting that bashar al-assad must go. a new president for argentina. plus -- >> this is alaska in the northwest corner o