>> what do we want? >> justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> he was running this way. >> an unarmed teenager killed my a police officer. >> no justice, no peace! >> 18-year-old michael brown. >> he turns his body towards this way, hands in the air. >> you're not god. you don't decide when you're going to take somebody. that was mine. that belonged to me. then new developments in the dual humanitarian mission in iraq. plus, the power struggle in baghdad that could complicate the fight against isis. first, tensions are still simmering in ferguson, missouri, after saturday's fatal police shooting of unarmed teenager michael brown. today, protesters in the st. louis suburb faced off with police in riot gear for a second day. angry residents fanned out behind police barricades chanting "no justice, no peace" and demanding to know why an unidentified police used deadly

force during an altercation with the teen. after the frustration boil over into looting and violence last night, brown's family told police officials today they want the chaos to stop. what the brown family wants is justice for their son. today the justice department tells nbc news that the local fbi has opened a separate investigation into the shooting but will not be, quote, taking over. the department of justice also tells us, quote, attorney general eric holder has instructed attorneys in the civil rights division to monitor developments related to the shooting incident in ferguson, missouri. john belmar is the police chief of st. louis county. thank you for being here. chief, i want to start with you. the official story of what happened to this young man and why he wound up shot by a police officer is not clear. can you tell us from the police's point of view what happened that night?

>> well, we know, in fact, it was the afternoon on saturday. the officer had an encounter with two individuals. one of whom is mr. brown, who was caught down the road. he spoke to the individuals about getting off of the street and perhaps taking the sidewalk. one of the individuals complied. the other did not. in fact, as the officer decided to get out of his car to continue the conversation, he was pushed back into the car, and there was a physical confrontation in that car where, in fact, there was a struggle over the officer's gun. we do know, for example, that there was one shot fired within the car. we're taking a look at the rest of the details of the investigation at this point to determine exactly what happened once the police officer exited the car. . >> and sir, are there civilian witnesses who would corroborate that version of events? you have people taking to social media saying they were there, they were in the area, they saw this young man's hands in the

air, that he was shot while on the ground, shot multiple times on the ground. is there dash cam video or independent corroborating evidence for the story you just told? >> so we took a look at the video that might be available on people's smartphones, but we didn't really find any. people said they had it. as it turned out, they had the after event. they didn't have actually when it happened. st. louis county detectives have interviewed scores of people. one of the reasons that i'm a little reluctant to talk about the facts and circumstances of the case is i don't think they're clear yet. we still have witnesses that we want to talk to. there's still people out there that detectives are very interested in talking to to determine exactly what happened on the scene that afternoon. >> chief, i know you were doing some local radio. you were out trying to talk to the community, but do you feel your department handled the situation well? you do have real anger in the community because frankly the family has already said they don't believe the version of events that you've just

discussed. you have people essentially saying that the police executed an unarmed teenager. and then the police presence was overwhelming. it was a very robust presence that you saw on the street, which some members of the community are also complaining for ratcheting up the tension. grade yourselves right now and the response of your department to the anger, really, in your community. >> so i do believe that the st. louis county police department enjoys an outstanding reputation, not only in the law enforcement community, but the community as a whole. i have utmost confidence in my detectives to investigate this matter. and at the end of the day, please keep in mind, we're not the one who decides whether this is justified or not. that will be up to the prosecuting attorney here in st. louis county and a parallel investigation done by the federal authorities. as far as the presence we had there last night, we staged. we staged because we felt like there potentially could be a problem during the protest, but we did not deploy. we only deployed once it became

an issue to where we had destructions of property. we had calls for assaults, issues like that. at that point, we felt like we had to deploy. i felt like the officers did a great job. 32 arrests were made. there were no injuries of any suspects that were made. i don't know what we could have done better beyond that. we tried to be very patient. we did not want to incite any further problems. >> and i'm going to go to charlie in a moment. is the officer that was involved in the shooting currently on leave? what is his status? >> so that officer doesn't work for my police department. but he's currently on leave from the ferguson police department. administrative leave. i cannot tell you administratively when that officer will return. >> all right. let's go to st. louis county executive. let's talk about the, first of all, the response of the police to this incident. there's a lot of anger in the community. first of all, do you support a

federal investigation into the shooting? >> yes, i do. first, let me say my heart goes out to leslie mcspaden and her son michael brown. it was a tragedy in our community. and we have to deal with it. >> well, do members of the african-american community in ferguson trust the police force, and should they? you're saying, you know -- the chief said there will be an investigation. there may also be a federal piece to it. but is there a bond of trust? just basic trust between the community and police. >> right now there are some concerns about trust, but it's unfounded. st. louis county police department is outstanding. they do a very good job. i can understand the frustration of how some people feel and the actual facts, which could be different. i understand people's frustration, their concern. but i can assure you, our police department is going to have an open investigation with the department of justice and the f

fbi. we support that wholeheartedly. we're going to keep the public abreast of what's going on as best we can. >> and chief, the same question to you. do you support the federal government coming in, the federal investigation into the shooting? >> i certainly do. i'm not surprised by it. i anticipated that an event like this that was likely to happen. i have experienced these type of incidents before. it's not unusual. we have an outstanding partnership certainly with the prosecuting attorney's office here in st. louis county, but we enjoy an outstanding relationship with the federal bureau of investigation. so we look forward to sharing what we know about the investigation with them and assisting them in any way we can. >> executive, you said there's an outstanding relationship and the department does a good job. why do you suppose there is still so much anger? we are now seeing another day of protests. people are very angry. there's obviously a lot of emotion that we're actually seeing on the streets of ferguson. why do you suppose, then, people are so angry if that relationship, as you said, is

solid? >> again, a young person has lost their life. that's a tragic situation. the facts are not actually clear at this point in time. i can understand people's frustration, their concern for justice, but i can assure you we have an open process. there's going to be transparency. we're going to keep the public involved. yes, there are concerns. but that does not speak to the whole community at large. the african-american community has a great relationship with the police department, but that doesn't mean that some people don't have a great relationship with the police department. but i can assure you that our police department is open, and we're going to do everything we can for justice. remember, this is about justice, not revenge. it's about doing what is right for this community and moving us forward. also, remembering the family. the michael brown family. keep them in your prayer. that's most important. >> lastly to you, chief, have you spoke within the family of michael brown? >> i've not had the opportunity to do that. my detectives have had the

opportunity to do that. i know that mrs. mcspaden was on the scene very early this morning at the staging area. she was talking to some members of the clergy. but i didn't have an opportunity to talk with her. so our condolences certainly go out to her. it's unfortunate. these are not good things, when officers encounter these kind of uses of force. it's not good for anybody. so all we want to do is ensure that an impartial investigation o curse. >> all right. well, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. ester haywood is the president of the st. louis county naacp. i don't know if you had an opportunity to hear the police chief describe in his words the incident that took place, saying there was a struggle over the officer's gun. i'm sure you're also hearing that the family of this young man and other members of the community do not believe that version of events. talk about the naacp's role in

trying to mediate between the community and law enforcement at this point. >> thank you very kindly. the st. louis county naacp looks to heal the community while seeking justice. it has come to our attention that the department of justice under the direction of eric holder will investigate the death of michael brown. we also know that as of 11:35 this morning, the fbi has taken over the investigation from the county police department. so hopefully every time i think about the citizens of this nation, all over america, we all are concerned about the excessive violence from the law enforcement. we have a mother and we have a father that have lost their son. it was left in the streets for

hours for the community to see. the parents see this. they just don't deserve it. an unarmed young man really looks like a child, shot multiple times, was killed by a police officer. it's just a little bit much. >> and i just want to correct one thing. the fbi is not taking over the investigation. there is an fbi investigate parallel to the authorities, but they're not taking over the investigation. is that something you'd want to see? from the naacp's point of view, does your organization, or do members of your organization trust the local department to investigate this incident or would you rather see it become a federal investigation? >> ma'am, i was informed on my way to this today that the fbi have taken over it from the county police department. that is facts.

>> that they are actually participating in the investigation. i don't believe they've taken over. >> well, you can check to be thorough, but that's what was told to me. >> okay. >> by our attorney that represents the county branch naacp who met with our chief of police for the county. but the fbi as of 11:35 this morning has taken over the investigation. >> okay. we can go back and forth on that. they haven't taken over the investigation. but let's talk about your discussions with the police department. you said your county executive board has met with the police. talk about a little bit about the substance of those discussions. what is it that the naacp wants the local department to do at this point? >> well, first of all, we were asking last evening if we would have a curfew at this time to cool down some of the tempers and allow our justice to work. >> okay. all right. we'll leave it there. esther haywood of the st. louis

county naacp. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. >> we're going to have continuing coverage of the police shooting of unarmed teen michael brown throughout the hour on "the reid report." coming up, southern christian leadership conference president charles steele jr. and veteran social commentator and civil rights activist dick gregory will weigh in on the shooting. coming up, the u.s. keeps up its air strikes in iraq, even as isis continues to advance and political chaos ensues. a report from the ground. also, how the president's response to the conflict has drawn criticism from foes and from allies. ♪

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let's get an update on the situation in gaza where the 72-hour cease-fire between israel and the palestinians agreed to at midnight local time

is still holding up. negotiators are hoping the latest cessation of violence paves the way for serious peace negotiations between israel and palestinian leadership factions, including hamas. since the start of the conflict, over 1900 palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, and close to 10,000 injured. according to officials, more than 60 israelis, mostly soldiers, have also been killed. u.s. officials tell nbc news that the cia is now arming kurdish forces in the north of iraq as air strikes pound the sunni insurgents threatening to take over the whole country. however, it's the constitutional crisis in baghdad that could mute the overall affect. we have a report from the north of iraq. nbc news' duncan golestani, who is in erbil, near the scene of the fighting. >> reporter: joy, we've been learning much more about how

u.s. air strikes over the weekend have helped the kurdish forces make some advances here in the north of iraq against isis fighters. for example, yesterday u.s. aircraft shot at a convoy of isis fighters as they advanced on the peshmerga kurdish fighters as they tried to defend erbil, where we are now. also over the weekend, peshmerga managed to retake key territory, two towns only about half an hour away from here. so really important they did that. again, with u.s. air cover. that's been very important for peshmerga morale, especially after they last territory last week. but it hasn't all been going their way. the town the front line keeps on moving, but the advances over the weekend probably really

important for boosting morale for the peshmerga, who have been demoralized by losing territory and by the fact they haven't been paid for several months because of financial differences between the kurdish authorities here in the north and the iraqi government in baghdad. now, though, all focus is likely to be on getting those weapons that we heard about coming through from the u.s. to see what difference that makes because they have been massively outgunned by the isis fighters. joy? >> all right. nbc's duncan golestani in erbi , iraq. thank you. complicating the mission is nuri al maliki. iraq's president today named a successor to maliki. while u.s. politicians have congratulated the prime minister designate, al maliki, who many blame for exacerbating the sectarian divide in iraq, has vowed to fight for a third term. joining me now is the director

of the center for middle east public policy at the rand corporation. thanks for being here. let's talk about this intransigence of nuri al maliki, once supported by the united states, but now apparently refuse to step down after two terms. >> yeah, well, that is a concerning development, and this is -- i think the u.s. is welcoming the nomination of the new prime minister. but we can expect based on prime minister -- former prime minister maliki's statements that he's going to put up a fight. there were even reports late last night that there were some troops amassing, some of his security forces amassing in baghdad in the green zone that he might actually try to maintain power by force. hopefully that will not come to pass. and it's really important that it's not just the united states but the broader international community really supports the nomination of the new prime minister because it's very important that iraq forms an inclusive government, particularly inclusive of the

sunni parties in order to really bring long-term stability to the country. >> and what are the chances that al maliki could thwart that very process of forming a new and inclusive government just by refusing to go? >> well, he does have significant control of some militias and security forces in the capital. so he does have some ability through force to try to maintain power. it's not clear that this will really be possible because there are a number of other forces against him. there are members of his own party. in fact, the new prime minister is a member of his party, was a former aide to al maliki. so there are a number of prominent iraqis across the political spectrum who were supporting his ouster. so it will be a battle. i think the question mark is how far maliki is willing to go, including the possibility of force. i think the other question mark is what the iranian position will be. they have also supported maliki in the past, have recently

indicated as the u.s. has that they're willing to see maliki go. i think if the regional, international forces, and the united states are in consensus, i think the pressure will be very, very strong internally within iraq for maliki to step down. >> our secretary of state has actually issued what we could call a warning today, saying the government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability in iraq. not so much a warning just so much as a statement of what we hope will happen. you've written about what you call the illusory idea that maliki is growing more and more powerful. do you think tehran is actually losing influence in iraq? >> well, i think that maliki staying in power is as big of a threat to tehran as it is to the united states, actually. because the islamic state of iraq and syria is really a threat to the entire region, including a threat to shia iran.

so i think iranian leaders have been concerned about maliki's exclusionary policies that have really just led iraq into a situation of chaos. and so i think he's starting to lose support from key quarters in tehran as well. i do think that the rise of isis, the rise of the islamic state has been a real challenge to iranian influence in iraq. the possibility of iraq breaking up would be a serious blow to iran. so i think this is certainly -- would be -- is being carefully studied in iran, in tehran, but i think this is one of those cases where the iranians and united states have some common interest in seeing maliki go. again, i just want to reiterate, this is a regional problem. the threat of islamic state of iraq and syria is not just an iraqi problem. it's a regional problem. and so the hope is that if there is a peaceful transition to a new prime minister who is more inclusive, that will pave the way for a more robust coalition

to really fight this islamic state menace to entire region. >> and speaking of isis, these air strikes the united states is doing and the humanitarian drops we're doing, you do have the sense, or at least some americans from the sense, that the rescuing of that religious minority that is in the northern area of iraq was somewhat of a pretext because this is what the united states wants to do. to go in and conduct air strikes and degrade the capability of ie s -- isis. what is your read on that? >> i think the u.s. was quite cautious about engaging in air strike. we have to remember the islamic state had been already advancing in key cities in northern iraq, particularly mosul, starting last june. and the u.s. was not very quick to engage these forces at that time. i think what changed the equation -- and i don't want to call it a pretext. i think the humanitarian assistance is real. but there's no question there's a strategic interest here from the united states, which is that the kurdish region of iraq,

particularly erbil, very important capital, business, and commercial capital. also houses the u.s. consulate there. it's really a key asset for the united states. so when it was apparent that isis was not just threatening southern iraq but was actually moving to advance to kurdish regions, that really crossed the line from a u.s. strategic perspective. i think we see the air strikes being conducted to really keep the islamic state out of kurdistan and protect that region, which is really one of the only safe havens left in that very tumultuous region, including housing hundreds of refugees first from syria and now from iraq. i think the shift had to do with where isis had its sights on and kurdistan just really presented a red line for the united states. >> indeed. all right. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you. all right. now, three things to know this monday. three missionaries who worked

with patients infected with the ebola virus in liberia have been brought to the united states. they'll be kept in quarantine for at least three weeks. among them, david writebol, the husband of nancy writebol. then, the attorney general of new york is slapping barney's with a $525,000 fine. the luxury retailer came under fire after allegations of racial profiling at its flagship new york city department store. barney's ceo says the store prides itself on providing unparalleled service and doesn't tolerate discrimination. and authorities are still investigating the tragic accident that led to the death of race car driver kevin ward, after questioning tony stewart, whose car collided with ward. a preliminary probe finds no evidence to support criminal intent. wondering what that is?

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now, this is the part of the show where we typically look at social media. and today we're focusing on the death of 18-year-old michael brown in ferguson, missouri, and how social media is shaping the way people are experiencing this tragedy. i first heard about this story on twitter over the weekend. in particular, through a tweet from msnbc contributor goldie taylor. she's a native of east st. louis, illinois, which is right across the river from st. louis, missouri. she also happens to be making a documentary about the area. now, goldie's twitter timeline over the weekend, along with those of literally hundreds of other people, showed scenes from ferguson, including the victim's body lying on the ground. social media has incapslated people's outrage over the michael brown shooting in a way that traditional news media typically couldn't. after the riots on sunday

protesting his death, people are prote using twitter to highlight the issues. we're also seeing reactions to the looting and violence like this one. there are a lot better ways to prove a point, one twitter user said. and joining me now is goldie taylor. i should note here goldie is in st. louis but not as representative of msnbc. so goldie, thank you very much, for informing me about this story at all. i was out of town and just happened to look and saw on your timeline that you were tweeting a lot about this story. how do you think that social media has shaped not only this story but sort of the way we experience incidents like this? >> well, i certainly think social media has changed the face of news. it's changed the way news operations does its business on a daily basis. while certainly there are some news operations who don't have

but a skeletal staff maybe over the weekend, such as this happened on a saturday, social media fills that in. so you're able to receive pictures directly from a scene. you're able to receive live tweets directly from a scene that give you the look and feel for truly how things are unfolding. on the other hand, you have the opportunity for a lot of misinformation. so i think i've challenged people over the weekend and others have to be careful about who you retweet and to really understand and know your sources. being from here and from st. louis, it was important for me to come home to see it for myself. i didn't always trust what i was seeing on ground. i thought this story was important enough to make the trip. >> and you're also seeing that on the upside, you can have these incidents actually in a sense live tweeted from within them. whatever is happening on the ground, you can get it immediately. but you also have, unfortunately, people begin to litigate these cases before they're finished.

you're starting to see not only picture of his body but side-by-side photos. this is a mean looking photo. this is a nice looking photo. sort of already litigating the way he should be portrayed to the public. is there a risk that we get so far ahead of the story that people already once again begin to take up sides and we get that situation where people decamp and it becomes polarized? >> well, that inherent risk has always existed. it's accelerated, however, with theed ed advent of social media. you can tweet anonymously without your name, without your face, with no skin in the game. or conversely, if you have skin in the game, if you're somebody like you or i who are not anonymous and our lives are on open display, you can tweet information that -- i call it confirmation bias. you tend to embrace the information that agree with the values you present. so i think sometimes we're able to embrace information either for or against, you know, the

life of someone like a michael brown because it checks with what we already believe rather than opening ourselves to exploring the pain that some others who na not look or live like us, how they may be living and the pains they may be living in on a daily basis. so social media sometimes shortcuts the opportunity to do that. >> very quickly, is there something people need to know about ferguson that you think that has not been explained properly as yet? >> i would say that north st. louis county or st. louis county in general is a collection of literally dozens of small townships like ferguson. ferguson, less than 15, 25 years ago was an all-white, small township. that's changed, and you're seeing the fabric of the community struggle through that change. >> yes, indeed. goldie taylor, thank you. we'll be looking for what you have to say on twitter as well as on the air. be sure to go to twitter, facebook, instagram, and msnbc.com to weigh in on this incident, the shooting of michael brown. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion has active naturals® oat with five vital nutrients.

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we're keeping an eye on the pentagon and the state department where both are now delivering updates about iraq. let's go live to the pentagon and hear from lieutenant general william c.meyville jr. >> we are right now gripped by the immediacy of the crisis. our focus right now is to provide immediate relief to those that are suffering. we are looking at the affect we're having on those fixed sites, those isil sites laying siege. we're trying to reduce that threat. for the near term, that's going to be our focus. >> so you don't have a plan to get them off the mountain, to bring them back to sinjar, or to some other refugee camp at this point. you don't have a plan to bring them down? >> what we're going to need is a better understanding of what's going on up there. but we are assessing the situation. look, in terms of the support that we've received over the

weekend, we've been contacted by many of our friends, as i mentioned in my opening remarks. the french and u.k. have already started helping. of course, we're enjoying the support from the region for overflight and basing. so increasingly, we are expanding the number of folks that are involved with this immediate crisis. it's a little bit too early to stand here today and give you very specific plans, sir. >> can you talk a little bit about the level of effort right now with the air campaign? we were told over the last week it was 50 isr. my understanding now, you've ratcheted up to something like 100 overall. also, it's isr strike drones did and cargo. is it about 100 a day now? up from 50? >> it varies. a ballpark figure is between 50 and 60 is what we've been doing. now, our most immediate task is

to understand what's happening at the mountain, to understand the complexity of the challenge. we're also trying to assess the security of our key facilities, both in baghdad and in erbil. and we continue to use our intelligence to characterize the threat posed by isil forces in the region. >> in layman's language for those watching this, how are you looking at your effectiveness? is it pieces of equipment you've destroyed? you said interrupted operational tempo. what does that mean in layman's language for those watching? >> the number of vehicles we strike and the exact bdas is less important than the battle damage assessments, the number of things we we hit is less important than the effects we seek, which is to reduce the

threats that could impact our facilities and our citizens and to make sure that we reduce the effects of those laying siege to mt. sinjar. >> are you picking up signs of retreat or picking up chatter they're panicking? >> you're talking about isis forces? we've focused our strikes and had a very temporary effect. and we may have blunted some tactical decisions to move in those directions and move further east so erbil. what i expect the isil to do is to look for other things to do. to pick up and move elsewhere. i in no way want to suggest we have effectively contained or that we're somehow breaking the momentum of the threat posed by isil. barbara? >> can we come back to security on the mountain? fundamentally, what is your assessment while you look at all

of this and try and see what you're dealing with? how much time do these people have before they run out of time? question number one. how are you assessing -- we understand that you're flying drones over the mountain to try and get a picture, but even today, a cnn crew was on board an iraqi kurdish helicopter going in to bring relief. they got shot at by isis on the way in. they got shot at by isis on the way out. so clearly isis still has some capability to attack that mountain. why not more air strikes against them there? >> well, in terms of time, we have offered -- afforded a little more time to the crisis just with the success of our humanitarian assistance thus far. but the urgency of the crisis has not gone away, and it is very important that we find a solution for those that are stranded up there. >> within days, within weeks? >> it's hard for me today to

tell you exactly that timeline. only that -- but you do point to what is very important. we need to continue to assess the situation. we need to continue to sustain the humanitarian assistance. and we need to be able to protect that effort. with regards to the targets, one of the things that we have seen with the isil forces is that where they have been in the open, they are now starting to dissipate and to hide amongst the people. so the targeting of this, of those forces that are trying to affect a siege around the mountain, the targeting of this is going to become more difficult. so it does not surprise me that an iraqi security force attempting a resupply, which in and of itself is no small task, and shows you as well that the iraqi security forces are very much involved in this effort, but it does not surprise me that

there will be small arms fire during the ingress or egress of those aircraft, just because of the way that isil formations are moving around. >> do you expect more targeting even though it may become more difficult? >> we're going to do what we need to do to protect our facilities, protect our embassy, to protect our american citizens, and to reduce this siege as well as protect those aircraft that are providing support to mt. sinjar. >> what kind of weapons are you looking at possibly giving kurds, and why is there a shift in policy? why can't the government in baghdad do that resupply? >> the government of baghdad has been doing that resupply. they've done resupplies over the weekend and the latter half of last week they did as well. but the equipment and the ammunition that the small arms that the peshmerga and kurdish security forces need is pretty

substantial. so we want to help them with that effort. in terms of what they need, principally they need weaponry that can meet -- there's technical vehicle out there. so there's weaponry they need to have that can reduce technical vehicles. some of the isil forces have a longer-range weapons system. so we need to make sure that the government of iraq and the iraqi security forces are providing longer-range weapons themselves to the kurdish forces. yes, sir? >> sir, how much have we been spending on these attacks, and from what accounts is that money coming from? >> i can't speak to the accounting of that effort. but i will say that we have been able to provide support and meet these tasks with the forces that

are already in iraq. >> quick question. beyond the limited scope of this operation, how do you assess the military capabilities of isil throughout iraq and syria? and also, are you concerned about the political -- internal political conflict in baghdad? as you may know, there's a new prime minister. and the current prime minister maliki has refused to step down. do you think this conflict could affect your mission in iraq? >> yeah, i'm very concerned about the threat posed by isil in iraq and in the region. they're very well organized. they're very well equipped. they coordinate their operations. and they have shown the ability to attack on multiple axis. i have time for one more question. yes, ma'am?

>> my question is, some news reports suggest that the white house was caught off guard by isis advancing in northern iraq. with 50-plus surveillance flights over iraq every day and assessors on the ground in erbil, why wasn't more advanced notice provided? >> yeah, look, we've been very clear about the threat posed by isil. we've been very consistent about that threat in the region and in iraq. what happened last week was that iraqi security forces simply did not have the equipment and the supplies and the ammunition to sustain their defensive positions around the mosul dam and in and around mt. sinjar. and it is for that reason that the isil forces were as effective as they were. with that, i thank you all very

much. >> and you can continue to watch the live stream on msnbc.com of that briefing. we'll of course bring you any new developments as they happen. meanwhile, president obama is on martha's vineyard in massachusetts. traveling with the president is nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing. chris, what can you tell us, sort of the latest of what the president is hearing at this moment. >> well, we know that he has been regularly briefed by his national security team. in fact, i'm told at least three times a day. the white house did release a picture of him with national security adviser susan rice. we should say that she wasn't originally scheduled to be on this trip, but given the trio of international events, obviously what is going on in iraq, but also gaza and the ukraine, the number of people who have come here to be with the president has been beefed up. look, they say the president is president wherever he is. so he is continuing to keep not just in close contact but constant contact virtually with members of that team.

i think the key point here is that there is clearly a situation that is very critical right now for them. and that's what's happening in iraq with the prime minister. when you heard the president on thursday night and when you heard him especially again on saturday morning when he was on his way here to martha's vineyard, he said a key component here is to get a new prime minister in. we need stability. john kerry reiterated that today. but we have nuri al maliki pushing to keep his job. that's the focus. although, there are many. that's a key focus of what the administration is looking at right now as they move forward, joy. >> all right. chris jansing, thank you. and now back to our other big story today. the death of an unarmed black teenager over the weekend. in ferguson, missouri, today, protesters are calling for a full and fair investigation into michael brown's death. at the same time, just a few states away, the atlanta-based southern christian leadership conference is holding its annual meeting in birmingham, alabama. a city that was at the heart of the civil rights movement. 50 years later, protests and

riots in ferguson remind us of the need for discussions like those going on in birmingham today, about the past and the future of the civil rights struggle. charles steele is the president and ceo of the southern christian leadership conference. and dick gregory is a veteran humorist and civil rights activist and speaking tonight at the conference. thanks to both of you for being here. mr. gregory, i want to start with you. we have some footage of you talking in 1964 on the merv griffin show. you were talking about the watts riots. i want to play what you had to say then, and then i want to come back out and ask you a question. >> sure. thank you. >> i would never go to my baby's crib when my baby was crying and say quit crying. first, i would find out why she was crying. kids do not cry for no reason at all. it's the same thing that's happening in america today. these negros aren't throwing bricks just for the sake of throwing bricks. >> when you see the kind of unrest we're seeing in the st. louis area following the

shooting of that teenager, that young man in missouri, what are your thoughts? do you feel that we are sort of collapsing history because what you were talking about following the watts riots in the 1960s, we seem to be repeating some of that history. >> no, it's been going on ever since that time. the difference is in the '60s when it happened, we said, well, thank god they didn't kill both of them. that's five cities in america that every three or five years they pay out close to $6 billion settling those police brutality cases. i heard something today coming out of st. louis that bothered me. they said that the police chief, the mayor, and a couple of other high-ranking cops have got death threats. the question i want to know is how did those ghetto people know their phone numbers? okay. or is this bigger than somebody's telling us? i was glad to know that the fbi

got involved. two things the fbi should do. one, check the cop and find out if they had alcohol or drugs. the longer you keep them away from people, the longer you can -- take the youngster that was killed and see if there's drugs and find out when was the drugs put in his body. after he was killed or before? so you got all of these things now. we got the technology that we can find this out. and all you have to do is stop talking down to people. we got wars all over the world, and nobody talks down to them. they are not out there because they just want to throw some bricks. if that's the case, how come they didn't throw it last week? every ghetto situation with riots, it has the same ingredients. a ghetto dweller and a cop. you go back and check all the records. somebody got to say, wait, there's something wrong. this is a formula. it never happened because somebody was running down the street and got hit by a bus.

it's always that same formula. i just hope that they would move into it with a new type of tactic and a new type of concern. like i said, when the baby's crying, you don't go to the crib and tell the baby to shut up. you find out what happened to make that child cry. >> indeed. and mr. steele, the southern christian leadership conference obviously during the 1960s were galvanized by issues like voting rights and access to facilities. when you see something like what's happening in st. louis, do you need to put back on to the agenda issues of urban violence, issues of policing? >> first of all, we actually have a program right now that we're going to cities and actually go throughout the world and talk about the nonviolence aspect of society. dr. king proved to the world

that teaching the principles of nonviolence worked. i was just with the clahancello. he said it's because of the principles and teachings of dr. king when he came to berlin, germany, in 1964 why we had to dismantle the berlin walls. it was because of dr. king teaching nonviolence techniques and giving people an alternative to violence. that's what we need to institutionalize and internationalize. >> and mr. gregory, you will be speaking at the sclc conference. what would be the core message that you're going to deliver? what do you think is the most important thing to put on the agenda? >> the core message i'll deliver -- the core message is we took on the mightiest nation in the world in the history of

the planet and we won. not with guns, not with being nasty. we won with a spirit of nonviolence. we brought it to its knees. and let me say, before the civil rights movement, a white woman couldn't be nothing on the plane but a stewardess, and she had to look like something out of "playboy" magazine to do that. you get on the plane now and see a white stewardess, fat, old, 75 years old, we got her that job, not the united states government. so when you see back then a woman couldn't be a firefighter, a woman couldn't be a cop. and today all of those have changed. that comes out of not our military. it comes out of a handful of people that was willing to die and not kill and that's what turned this country all the way around and the world. >> all right. well, charles steele and dick gregory, thank you both for being here. >> thank you. >> thank you. and a programming note to pass along.

tonight on "politics nation," the mother and grandfather of michael brown, the unarmed st. louis teen who was kill by police as well as family lawyer benjamin crump will join reverend al sharpton. that's tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern. "the cycle" is up next. uscle cl. it lifts tough dirt so you do less scrubbing. and its nozzle stops by itself... ...so less is wasted sure made grandma proud. mr. clean liquid muscle. angieby making it easy to buyng and schedule service by top-rated providers, conveniently stay up-to-date on progress, and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with the angie's list mobile app. visit angieslist.com today.

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visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. this is bill. his doubleheader day at the park starts with back pain... and a choice. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. peanuts! peanuts! crowd cheers! our focus right now is to provide immediate relief to those who are suffering. we are looking at the effect we're having on those fixed sites, those isil sites that are laying siege. we're trying to reduce that threat. for the near term, that's going to be our focus. >> we begin this week the same way last week ended with breaking news in the middle east. the pentagon just unveiled the latest operations in iraq. more u.s. air strikes against isis militants. more humanitarian drops for

civilians. and more political turmoil in baghdad. i'm ari melbur. we begin in baghdad. prime minister nuri al maliki is refusing to step down today. the new president has nominated a new prime minister. he's a shiite and a member of maliki's own party. maliki's supporters argues al badi does not have the legitimacy to lead the nation. mal mal malay -- the sunnis, kurds, as well as the u.s. want him gone. now secretary of state john kerry saying the u.s. is, quote, absolutely squarely behind president masum. >> we believe that the