him a lot. >> then former u.s. senator and senate foreign relations committee chairman dick luger will join me to discuss the foreign policy challenges facing his former senate colleague, president obama. plus, after distancing herself from her former boss's approach to foreign policy, hillary clinton goes to martha's vineyard to, quote, hug it out. we've got a live report from the vineyard. but first, another night of angry protests and chaos in ferguson, missouri, despite efforts to tamp down this week's violent flare-ups over michael brown's death at the hands of a police officer. police used tear gas to disperse crowds in the st. louis suburb where the unarmed teen was shot and killed on saturday. meanwhile, st. louis county police say around 1:00 a.m. today an officer shot and critically wounded a man who pointed a handgun at him. that happened near the site of last night's protests. around the same time police say a woman was shot in the head during an apparent drive-by shooting that also took place

not far from the site of protests earlier in the night. now right now we should stress no connection between last night's shootings and this week's protests has been established, but after a third night of protests, what is clear is that tensions between residents of ferguson and the police remain high. tremendo t tremaine lee is a national reporter. are things beginning to calm down or are people still really angry? >> reporter: after another day of tension and another night capped off by violence, people on all sides of the line are hunkering down. i spoke with the police chief last night and he fears for the lives of his officers. i talked to residents today who are concerned that last night's shooting and the continued lack of answers will continue to spur more tension. folks are just really worried, concerned, and again if last night is any indication, this doesn't seem to be letting up

any time soon. >> trymaine, one of the more alarming reports that we're hearing is a report of a spike of sales at gun stores in the st. louis area. firearm sales are up by 50% on tuesday and metro shooting supplies in bridgeton says sales are through the roof and amazingly high. that is a very, very troubling sign. is that something that you're also hearing? >> reporter: yes. what this is about really is fear. i spent some time in a wendy's yesterday and even employees there were concerned. they look next door and see the amassing of police vehicles and police officers in military-style fatigues so there is a real fear here. so the fact that people are buying guns shouldn't be surprising. they're arming themselves, they are concerned. when you look at what we're putting out on news, every single day we're capturing throwing tear gas and firing rubber bullets into crowds. angry crowds chanting "kill the police." it's such a tense environment. a cloud of fear and tension

mixed in with the haze of tear gas is penetrating every corner of this community. >> and the backdrop obviously of this, trymaine, and a lot of people are citing this data on racial profiling in ferguson, 63% of the population and 86% of police stops are african-americans, 92% of police searches, 93% of arrests and obviously the demographics of the police force having very few african-americans on it, have officials in the town begun to address that issue and talked about there needing to be more recruitment or at least more of a conversation? >> reporter: again, i spoke with chief tom jackson last night. he said when he got to the police department four years ago, there were 10% minority and women on the force and that number has declined. so he tried to raise the base salary and has tried to create a more welcoming environment in the department to entice black officers. he's working with the city and the fire department to create

mentorship programs to go into the high school and train young prospects through junior college and through the academy. but as it stands right now, when you look across this patch work of small black communities, 91 municipalities across the near suburbs and you look how black the communities are but how white the police forces are, local community groups have said they have been fighting for a very long time to try to diversify the department because quite frankly, the young people being stopped, they're seeing an officer that doesn't look like them. >> and we did speak with one official about potentially needing a curfew. this is what the police department said about the violence. we will continue to cooperate fully in the investigation led by the st. louis county police department, the federal bureau of investigation and the justice department. this is the key part, we ask that any groups wishing to assemble in prayer or in protest do so edge during daylight hours in an organized and respectful manner. is there in fact a curfew in place right now in ferguson? >> reporter: from my understanding right now, it's not so much a curfew as they're

urging very strongly that people who want to assemble and protest in any form or fashion, do so before night fall. let's take a look tonight to see what exactly happens. for the last three nights in a row, young people have come out -- people have come out in mass to voice their feelings about this, to protest peacefully, to march and sometimes not so peacefully. so tonight we'll see how heavy the hand of local law enforcement will be in enforcing this, quote unquote, curfew. >> trymaine lee, we'll definitely talk to you about this again and see what happens tonight. thank you very much for being here, appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. last night calls for justice continued at a rally led by national action network president reverend al sharpton, who is also an msnbc host. inside the church family and friends showed support and solidarity the way witnesses said michael brown did before

the death by a police officer. the family is waiting final autopsy results as advocates for the family call for deeper federal involvement in the investigation. mr. gray is representing the family with long with benjamin crump. mr. gray, does the family have answers to the basic question on the table, at least one of them, which is how many times their loved one, michael brown, was shot? >> first of all, how are you doing, joy? thank you for having me. to answer your question, no. the family does not have those basic answers given to them at this time. >> and is there a timeline for when the family will either get the official autopsy or when essentially the body of this young man will be released to the family so they can obtain an autopsy of their own? >> there has not been an official timeline. we anticipate that that would be done in very short order, but there's no agreed-upon timetable for any of the investigatory steps that need to be taken in

this case. >> mr. gray, let me ask you about the federal side of this. the fbi does have a parallel investigation going on. they are looking into the case, of course the local investigation is happening on the ground. has the family spoken with or been contacted by the fbi? >> no, not at this time. i won't say that there is not a desire on the part of the fbi to speak with the family, but i am unaware of any official attempts to contact the family and speak with them. >> and has the family spoken with you about their response to the president's statement that came out yesterday? he did make a statement about the family, giving his condolences to the family and calling for calm in the community. any response from the family to that? >> i was around when they actually received notice of the statement from the president. the family was welcomed by it, they appreciated the statement. i thought it was a very respectful and responsible thing on behalf of the president to do

at this time. and i do really think that that set a tone with the family in a positive direction, which is something that is really needed at this time. >> sir, has the police department reached out to the family? when we spoke with the st. louis county police chief, he had not at that point spoken with the family. has there been any direct contact since then? >> that remains the case, joy, that they have not made any official, and i'll qualify everything by saying official. i'm unaware of any other communications that may have taken place that doesn't involve myself or attorney crump, who are the representatives of this family. so when i say official, i'm saying coming through that channel. there's been no attempts that i'm aware of of the county police department or the ferguson police department to reach out to this family. >> and this family is obviously going through incredible grief having lost such a young man about to start college and the promise that he had. what is their response to the huge response? there has been a tremendous social media response.

this has become a galvanizing sort of national story. i'm sure it's overwhelming for them now, but what is their response to just how big this story has become? >> i think you pretty much characterized it in your segue to the question. it's overwhelming. it's kind of mixed because they appreciate the support, they appreciate those that are calling for the same message that they're trying to convey to the public, which is a fair and impartial investigation and that the curiosity of those that are looking at this story is eventually satisfied by such an investigation. but on the other hand, they are not satisfied with some of the activities that have occurred throughout the days, in particular the rioting and the looting. this family has openly rejected that. they have talked out against it and they are opposed to that and they want to disassociate themselves with any of that

activity. >> all right, sir. anthony gray, thank you very much for being here, really appreciate it. >> no problem. thank you, joy. have a great day. >> thank you. coming up, president obama does weigh in on the michael brown shooting. we'll explore the politics of race and the special challenges that the president faces when it comes to anything touching on that third rail. but up next, former senator richard luger will be here to discuss our growing reinvolvement in iraq and the state of american global power. more "reid report" next. did som? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

no arrests on martha's vineyard for president obama as he deals with quickly unfolding event in mull hot spots around the world. starting in iraq where more u.s. troops as well as french arms are pouring in to aid our

kurdish allies in their fight against militants. those u.s. troops are not designated for a combat role. instead this is how defense secretary chuck hagel described the u.s. mission when he announced it at camp pendleton in california. >> to take a closer look and give a more in-depth assessment of where we can continue to help the iraqis. with what they're doing and the threats that they are now dealing with. >> now, while the white house has repeatedly promised no boots on the ground to bite isis militants, the 129 troops ordered to erbil in the northern part of iraq include marines and special forces and they head to iraq on the heels of hundreds more military advisers who were deployed to baghdad in june. joining me now is former republican senator richard luger who chaired the senate foreign relations committee.

sir, thank you very much for being here. >> thank you, joy. >> let's start with our re-engagement in iraq. what do you make of the fact that the united states is sending military advisers to include special forces back into that country. do you see us winding up with a much larger military engagement in that country? >> we could have a much larger engagement, but i think the president and secretary hagel have acted wisely to send advisers so we can size up the situation, find out where our intelligence can be most effective and likewise those situations that are a crisis for people that need to be rescued, specifically the isis group, the militants have vowed that they're going to create difficulty for the united states of america, that they're going to at least hit us quite apart from what's going on there. so this is a time of urgency and the president is acting with the

fact that in the iraqi government, the business of getting to a new prime minister making some headway and mr. maliki hopefully stepping aside, although that remains to be seen, so it's a very difficult situation how to help people if you want to do so. >> one of the questions that has been asked as this situation in iraq unfolds and the chaos in syria and the continued death there and the fact that isis is operating in both of those countries, there has been a debate that former secretary of state hillary clinton has joined about whether or not the u.s. could have avoided some of this chaos by actually arming syria rebels early. what are your thoughts on that? >> well, it's always easy to second-guess. my thoughts are it would have been very difficult to determine which rebels to arm. as a matter of fact, criticism of the president now will come that he has no broad overall policy, but at the same stage

that we did have the potential for an attack, an air attack on syria, you'll recall the senate foreign relations committee voted in favor of that in an emergency meeting. the house did not act very rapidly. it was apparent that the congress as a whole was not going to act and the british parliament said no. and so as a result we at least got some benefit getting the syrian chemical weapons out of there which is a benefit since isis has taken over such a large portion of syria which might have included some of those chemical weapons, but it's not been easy for the president working with the congress and the american public. i think currently it's apparent that we want to be helpful and it's best to have advisers on the ground to protect americans who are in baghdad to begin with, our embassy, but likewise now to protect those who are up on the mountain side near the kurdish border and to try to bring some relief there while we

size up how the government will work out in iraq generally and the relations, we with the kurds and the iraqi government. >> sir, you've touched on something that i think is a broader question about the united states' role in the world, whether it's the leverage or lack thereof that we have in the israeli-palestinian conflict, whether it is this attempt to disengage from iraq and being pulled back in or even when you look at what's happening with vladimir putin with russia and what's going on with ukraine. do you feel that the united states has begun to withdraw from the former role that we had as a world power and does that have negative consequences for the world? because americans are reticent to get involved around the world. >> no, i don't think we've withdrawn as all. as a matter of fact, the idea of our pivot to asia has clearly brought more activity in that part of the world where we thought there might be some strategic problems coming along. we've continued to try to work until recently on arms control with the russians, and that has been a benefit to them, to us as

well as to the rest of the world. but it appears to me that right now the united states is fully engaged in trying to buttress nato and trying to bring the european community together and backing ukraine. i think it's a busy time for diplomacy in the united states. and likewise, the military sent out, as in the case you cited in iraq. >> sir, you herald an era that does feel like it is over, which is one of bipartisanship. you quite famously worked then very well with then senator barack obama and developed a good relationship with him until the time he was president and you were no longer in the senate. what do you think has happened to deteriorate the ability of the two parties to just work together on big picture things that all americans are supposed to care about? >> for the past few years the partisanship has become much more intense. i'm hopeful it's cyclical and

will disappear in due course, but it won't for a while. the nature of our politics is one of extremes right now, in terms of primary elections, quite apart from the general elections. i'm hopeful, however, that even in the midst of all of this, and i see some possibilities of it, that there will be support for the president, for secretary hagel and for secretary kerry as we are facing specific problems in ukraine and in iraq, as we've cited already, but there could be others bobbing up all of the time. we're really going to have to have much more understanding, and i believe the american people are going to demand this. the american people will also have to be supportive of actions that are taken by the president and the congress. right now much of the polling indicates that americans do not want to become involved in the rest of the world. difficult to be a president or a

congress under those circumstances and yet at the same time that's the job you have to do. and i'm proud of the work that the president and the congress are doing and i think we're on the right track. >> well, sir, i think i speak for many americans when i say that your style and brand of politics is sorely missed and i really do appreciate you being here. >> thank you so much. >> former senator dick lugar, thanks very much for being here. and now three things to know this wednesday. severe flooding is wreaking havoc in several u.s. cities today. the michigan governor has just declared a state of emergency in three counties. and in detroit, one person died from a medical emergency while trapped in her car by floodwaters. the body of a 100-year-old woman was found in her flooded basement. in new york state, governor cuomo dispatched emergency resources after the national weather service confirmed record rainfall in parts of long island. some areas got more than a foot of rain, and that's more than the average rainfall for the entire summer. one person died in a car accident during the storm. meanwhile, same-sex couples

in virginia could start getting married as early as next wednesday as the fourth circuit court of appeals denied a request to delay its ruling. lawyers defending the ban say they will seek an emergency order from the u.s. supreme court. and the lights will be dimmed on broadway tonight in memory of robin williams. williams graced the broadway stage many times, most recently in 2011. (vo) friday night has always been all fun and games, here at the harrison household. but one dark, stormy evening... she needed a good meal and a good family. so we gave her purina cat chow complete. it's great because it has the four cornerstones of nutrition. everything a cat needs for the first step to a healthy, happy life. purina cat chow complete. share your rescue story and join us in building better lives. one rescue at a time.

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contrasting images of the victim which have also been used by nbc news and which inspire very different assumptions. you were asked if you were mistakenly killed by authorities, how would the media portray you? would they depict you in a positive or stereo typical light? these tweets convey the power of stereotypes which can be the matter of life or death for african-americans. many of you are calling the hash tag one of the smartest and most provoking things i've ever seen on social media. now to something that shows the dark side. zelda williams versus the trolls. after the suicide of 63-year-old entertainment icon robin williams, his woman, zelda, used social media to share her sadness over his passing. several really unpleasant people sent ugly, negative messages about williams to her twitter and instagram accounts so she announced she's leaving social media for now tweeting today, i'm sorry, i should have risen above, deleting this from my devices, maybe forever. time will tell.

good-bye. several of you are coming to her defense. these people should be charged with assault. it doesn't have to be physical to be harmful. i couldn't have said it better. and now to the als ice bucket challenge. a project that may make life better for those suffering from lou gehrig's disease. >> let me have it, boys. i appreciate that. >> that is seattle seahawks head coach pete carroll, the latest to take the plunge after the kennedys and the "today" show host, of course, matt lauer. the challenge involves getting a bucket of ice dumped over your head or ice water or donating money to the als association if you refuse. it's raised more than $4 million since july 29th, according to the group. you can go to alsa.org to learn more and also join the conversation on twitter, facebook, instagram and msnbc.com and keep telling us what's important to you. and now this news, the death of screen siren lauren bacall at

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a source with the palestinian delegation in cairo tells nbc news that they received a list of demands from israel that includes a stop to hostilities, the firing of rockets and the working on tunnels. the cease-fire expires at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. and a church and community leaders in ferguson, missouri, are planning a march today at 5:00 p.m. eastern, billing it as a peace/love prayer march. it comes as ferguson police have asked groups to assemble only during daylight hours after several nighttime protests ended in violent clashes sflrchl. as the country watches the turmoil on the streets, one very high profile observer has finally weighed in. yesterday afternoon president obama made his first comments about the fatal police shooting of unarmed teen, michael brown. comments he made from martha's vineyard where he's on a two-week-long working vacation. the statement reads in part, i know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, i urge everyone in ferguson, missouri, and across the country

to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. we should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. jason johnson teaches political science at hiram college and is the politics editor for the "source" magazine and jonathan ca capehart is an msnbc contributor. gentlemen, thank you for being here because whenever you have questions of president barack obama and race, it's always -- there's several third rails. all the rails are third rails. i want to read you a statistic. president obama on race. in his first two years as president, obama spoke less about race than any other democratic president since 1961, according to a study by daniel q. gilian, a political scientist at the university of pennsylvania in philadelphia. >> are you going to ask why? >> discuss. >> he was supposed to wave this magic wand and heal every racial problem in the country and we

were going to be post-racial and he can't. he can't. number one, he doesn't have the solution to all the problems that face the country. two, no matter what he says, the people who don't like having a black president are going to criticize him for it. >> president obama actually has spoken very memorably about issues that involve race if not about race itself. i'm going to play you the very first time president obama as president touched on an issue that had race involved. let's listen. >> i think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. >> jonathan, the reaction to that, he had to have a beer summit, is that why in your mind president obama has been so reticent to talk about the michael brown case? >> it wasn't that he said that and then they were having the

beer summit. all hell broke loose when the president said that. he spoke from the heart, it was a very honest answer. >> and it was his friend. >> exactly. and it was his friend. i think the other factor involved here that sort of ratcheted up the criticism was the fact that you had police involved. and so you had police involved, you had law enforcement, you had investigations. so why is the president weighing in on this, especially something involving his friend and especially something on race so of course the president ratcheted back. and what you were saying before, the president can't talk about these things because when you're the first, the bar is so, so high. and, you know, you can't solve all the problems in one answer. and i think the statement that he put out yesterday and you highlighted the section that i was going to highlight, and that was basically telegraphing to the people he knows will be listening to him, the african-americans in ferguson saying to them cut it out.

>> right. >> because what you're doing is taking away from what we really should be talking about and that is how is it possible that an unarmed teenager in shorts and a t-shirt get gunned down in broad daylight. >> i want to play this and get you to weigh in because this is another time to jonathan's point where it is an issue when he is uniquely in the position to speak to african-americans and the reaction is still -- let's play the second time he memorably talked about race. >> you know, when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is that trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> jason, is the president just hamstrung from being able to even on a personal level being able to commuting to the african-american or about the african-american community? >> i think it varies. if you're one of the families

that's essentially in one of these occupied communities where you have police forces that are incredibly hostile, this is meaningful. if you're in another kind of african-american, you're saying he's not doing enough. he talks a good game and then goes right back into respectability politics about sagging pants. so obama doesn't seem to have the rhetoric to communicate with as many different people as are affected by these acts of violence as is happening. that's the problem. >> i would disagree with that. i was in the briefing room. i was there behind the camera when the president made that statement and it was incredibly powerful. it was a surprise. no one knew that he was coming out to speak to the nation. and to have the president of the united states speak on such a personal level, there was no politics involved in here. for him to say, you know, 35 years ago, trayvon could have been me, that spoke to -- he was speaking for himself, but sending a message to everybody, not just african-americans, but everybody that african-american men live with this burden.

>> right. >> of other people's suspicions and it doesn't matter where they come from, whether they're in these occupied communities that you're talking about or whether they're living in the white house. >> and yet the reaction to that was not to say, oh, let's have this conversation. the reaction was to polarize the situation and make trayvon martin an article of politics where being for or against him became a political matter. >> exactly. it was a mass that people could use to hit obama. let's be honest. some people said, wow, that is really meaningful. what have you done? we still have stand your ground laws everywhere. there's all sorts of things people wanted policywise that we haven't seen manifest and that's the real challenge. what's going on in ferguson right now as terrible as it is, in six or eight months if and when we get the magical reveal of who this police officer is, is there going to be any federal change? if there isn't, it's just going to be a statement. >> this is a larger conversation because there's only so much the president can do. the president can't come down

from on high and say you must do this, this must change. i think expectations need to be -- need to be a little more -- a little more reasonable. it is not insignificant to have the president of the united states speak to issues that affect -- that affect you, the african-american community, especially when you are so used to the president of the united states and just the federal government ignoring you. >> right. and that is going to have to now be the last word but i suspect this will continue in the green room. thank you both for being here. coming up, the hug-a-thon in the vineyard. will hillary clinton be able to smooth things over with president obama after the explosive interview? we will hug it out, next. . it's time for the "yourself business" entrepreneurs of the week. 45 years ago the woodstock music festival shook up the nation and

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hillary clinton comes face to face with president barack obama tonight. one item on their mutual agenda, hugs. specifically, according to a clinton spokesperson, hugging it out after nearly a week's worth of media speculation and reported back and forth between the two camps over an interview that clinton gave to jeffrey goldberg. in it she appeared to distance herself from the foreign policy of her one-time boss saying at one point, great nations need organizing principles and don't do stupid stuff is not an organizing principle. now, as to whether of us get to see the hugging, the white house says that's a whole other matter. >> i believe the president and secretary clinton have had many hugs over the past few years. i suspect many of them have been caught on camera. again, i appreciate the request, but i do think this is a private social gathering for someone's birthday so it's going to be bring all of you lovely people in. >> nbc's chris jansing joins me live from martha's vineyard.

so, chris, preview the hug-a-thon. >> reporter: well, it's going to happen tonight. it's a party that long-time democratic advisers vernon jordan is throwing for his wife, ann, as a swanky golf club. but look, this has been a distraction from the very serious issues that are out there and it's been amazing to watch the escalation of what was a serious policy article in "the atlantic" that has turned into a real political firestorm to the point where hillary clinton had to make a phone call to apologize, had that statement put out. then you saw the white house pretty extraordinary move to put out one of their top policy people here with the president on vacation to talk about the politics of all this. there are a couple of real implications here. one is the timing isn't good. i mean the white house, while publicly they won't say it, privately some of them are grumbling and saying we have real issues not just in iraq but in gaza and ukraine. this was not an ideal time for

her to be putting out a critique like this. and second, there's some concern that republicans who are running for the house and senate in november can say, look, it's not just us who thinks the president's foreign policy is bad, listen to his former secretary of state. novr, we won't know what happens tonight inside that tent. there's a big, beautiful tent and the weather is really turning nasty on that golf club because as you heard, it is not open to the press, joy. >> all right, indeed. thank you for highlighting those important issues. chris jansing, thank you. joining me now is lynn sweet, washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times." and that's the point, isn't it, that you've had a real serious policy debate, hugging aside, between president obama, he did an interview with thomas friedman and is really trying to defend his foreign policy, and hillary clinton, who if she runs for president is primarily going to be running on her tenure as secretary of state. >> well, she'll also be running on how she can do foreign policy

better than president obama. now, she did annoy the white house, i've been told that, with her comments. but, joy, don't expect things to be patched up tonight. just a quick little bit of background. vernon jordan's wife is valerie jarrett's cousin. and that's a strong connection there with the obamas. and vernon jordan himself has a strong connection to bill clinton and hillary clinton. he's one of the figures that stood with bill clinton during the worst days before impeachment and the stuff leading up to it. so i'm told that it's just as likely that they'll talk about chelsea's pregnancy and what sasha and malia did this summer rather than use this as an event. what the white house wants to do is try to move this story along, which is why some of the extraordinary things chris jansing talked about happened to try to close the story down and move on. >> lynn, there's been a long-time sort of distance between barack obama and hillary

clinton going all the way back to really even before the primary. one of the things that they have shared are advisers who hillary wanted for her campaign but who went into the obama camp. david axelrod being one of the important ones. axelrod put out a tweet after the clinton interview with jeffrey goldberg was released and he said just to clarify, "don't do stupid stuff" means stuff like occupying iraq in the first place, which was a tragically bad decision. of course, lynn, a decision that hillary clinton as senator voted for. >> right. and so david is very clever and he got a lot done in that one tweet. you know, susan rice was somebody who bill and hillary clinton would stay in the hillary clinton camp back in '07 when she was one of the first advisers to go for obama because it was under the clinton administration that she rose and set the stage for her to be -- to be a u.n. ambassador under obama and a top foreign policy adviser in the white house now.

nonetheless, this episode is an amplification of some things former secretary of state clinton said in her book. we long have known that she would have done more and had more intervention in libya and some of these other crises. the timing here is what makes what she said seemingly more important because of what's going on in iraq now. just think, she's done dozens and dozens of interviews for her book, joy, and this is really the first time where she's created a major storm over the differences. so i think she has been trying to not create a rift. and by using some flip language in this case, she did. >> indeed, not to mention the fact that she is going to need that obama coalition if she runs. it's very complicated. >> it is, but i do call this more of a speed bump. this is the least of what i think we'll see ahead involving

clinton/obama relationship. >> more to come. thanks so much, lynn sweet. appreciate it. >> thank you. ahead we read between the lines on why there's a growing mistrust of police in certain communities. ♪ [music] defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old.

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what we see again and again across this country, particularly when it comes to law enforcement, is particularly young people who are suspected of minor underwhelmingly minor offenses facing overwhelmingly major and often lethal use of force. >> that was cornell brooks, the national president of the naacp. and what he's describing is a core issue that continues to stoke anguish, protests and, yes, occasionally unrest in our communities. the still unresolved issues

around how african-americans are policed in their own communities. and while we in the media often focus on the angry aftermath, the violence or the looting or those incidents while certainly not justified either by the law or common sense can't be separated from their context, which in the case of st. louis begins with the fatal shooting still under investigation of an unarmed black teenager, michael brown, by police. the fact is that 49 years to the week after the watts riots, more than 30 years after the miami riots following the beating of arthur mcduffy and more than 20 years after the rodney king riots in l.a., we still haven't resolved those issues of race and policing and it has only stoked the sense of fatalism among some in the african-american community. whether it was eric garner who died as a result of a police chokehold after an arrest for a minor infraction in new york

city or 22-year-old john crawford in ohio, shot and killed inside a dayton area walmart after two patrons called 911 upon seeing him holding a toy rifle in the gaming aisle. the mother of crawford's children who was on the phone with him at the time said she could hear him yelling "it's not real" and police yelling get on the ground. she told the dayton daily news, i could hear him crying and screaming. i feel like they shot him like he was not even human. or the latest incident in los angeles where family members say a 25-year-old mentally challenged man was shot by police while lying on the ground. as jonathan capehart writes for "the washington post" this week, one of the burdens of being a black male is bearing the heavyweight of other people's suspicions. as capehart points out, that burden knows no gender. and so marlene pinock is shug officials of the california highway patrol after being repeatedly punched in the head by an officer who sought to detain her for walking on the interstate in a way the officer

said endangered her. >> he grabbed me from behind. he threw me to the ground. he started beating me and blow after blow just swinging with all of his might, just hitting and banging. >> if these incidents all under investigation don't feel like something that could happen to you, if you make the wrong move or take the wrong turn home or don't respond to police in precisely the right way, consider yourself lucky. it's an all-american experience we could all do without. and 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. what have you got going on today? >> hey, joy. some moving stuff there from our own jonathan capehart. we've got a busy show today starting off in iraq. the u.s. is sending in more than 100 of what they are calling military advisers. obviously some are concerned this will lead to a slippery slope. we have politics block with josh barrow.

will clinton and president barack obama hug it out tonight? and what are you ranting about today? >> i'm ranting about why this whole hug thing is overblown but there is an important point on syria hidden in between it. >> well, you know what, sending virtual hugs to all of you. "the cycle" is up next. two med! let's show 'em what a breakfast with whole grain fiber can do. one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate hold the whip, two espressos. make one a double. she's full and focused. [ barista ] i have two cappuccinos, one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, a medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate hold the whip, and two espressos -- one with a double shot. heh, heh. that's not the coffee talkin'. [ female announcer ] start your day with kellogg's frosted mini wheats cereal. with whole wheat goodness on one side and a hint of sweetness on the other, it's a delicious way to get the nutrition you want. you pay your auto insurance it's premium ous way every month on the dot. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates.

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and our goal here is to work with the iraqis and with international partners so that these people can get off that mountain and to a safer place. we will look at what the best way and the safest way is to get those people off that mountain and the president will be making decisions after he hears back from the military about what they found on the ground there in iraq. >> i am abby huntsman. as we come on the air this afternoon, 130 additional u.s. troops are joining hundreds of american forces who are already on the ground in iraq. the pentagon is calling it a temporary mission to assess and plan possible evacuations for christian and yezidi refugees who have been driven out by isis. these u.s. marines and special forces are in northern iraq as advisers, not as combat troops. but to isis, that distinction makes le