and that's going to do it for this hour of msnbc live. i'm kate snow. "mtp daily" starts right now. if it's tuesday, in a time of growing fear over terrorism, it's president obama handing out the highest civilian honor in the united states, the medal of freedom, for 17 people who remind us that there's still much good happening in the world. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. and good evening from new york, i'm steve kornacki in for chuck todd. you are looking at live pictures of the white house east room. that is where this hour president obama is going to

award the presidential medal of freedom to 17 people who'd made great contributions to this country's culture and society. this is the nation's highest civilian honor. as "the washington post" put it this week, there are no rules on how these folks get picked, and ultimately it's the president's call. it includes the late baseball great yogi berra, oscar-winning filmmaker steven spanish leagie shirley chimp from new york, james taylor, gloria estefan, and barbara streisand. also while we're waiting on that ceremony to start, we're following breaking news out of chicago where just 30 minutes from now at 5:30 eastern time, we'll hear from mayor rahm emmanuel and police superintendent gary mccarthy. they're going to address the shooting of 17-year-old laquan

mcdonald. the teen was shot 16 times by officer jason van dyke. officer van dyke is now charged with first-degree murder. the confrontation was caught on police dash cam video. we expect that that video is going to be released very soon. turning back to the white house, this celebration of some of america's best and brightest comes just hours after president obama and french president hollande met to discuss the fight against isis. speaking to reporters after that meeting, the leaders pledged to work together to share intelligence and resources to fight isis. they also talked about their resolve not to let the terrorists win. >> groups like isil cannot defeat us on the battlefield. so they try to terrorize us at home. against soft targets, against civilians, against innocent people. even as we're vigilant, we cannot and we will not succumb to fear.

nor can we allow fear to divide us. for that's how the terrorists win. we cannot give them the victory of changing how we go about living our lives. >> and joining me now from the white house, nbc's kelly o'donnell. so, kelly, the leaders there, both presidents pledging joint resolve to combat isis, but is there anything specific that came out of this meeting today in terms of what the united states, what france, what they're going to do together against isis? >> reporter: well, there is agreement. neither wants to put ground troops into this very difficult situation. but they did talk about more cooperation on sharing knowledge about targets they've identified and then in a different way, looking at things like passenger lists from flights that would go from europe, for example, to the united states, to help officials on this end of the ocean to be able to have a better sense of who to anticipate arriving on our shores, especially if there's any match with what's

known in the intelligence community. it's one of those days here, steve, where you get sort of the range of emotions. you alluded to the medal of freedom ceremony. that's about the culture and the accomplishments of american life. and in many ways, the president and on his own, francois hollande, talked about those parts of our cultures need to be protected. so it sort of book ended with that sense of what it means to be american or what it means to be french in a modern way. at the same time, one of the unusual things we saw today was after the two presidents left the room, vice president joe biden, who'd been a part of some of the kfrgdss, talked with a small group of conversations, emphasizing some of the points that had been in the statements of the two leaders. that's very, very unusual. but it gives you a sense of how he is also engaged in this, and trying to emphasize too this issue of russia. when we had the downed russian military jet today and how president obama talked about, while all the facts were not known at that time, exactly what

had gone on there, in traveling into turkish airspace, he's concerned and so is hollande about the idea of russia getting in the way by making its sortie runs more directed toward the syrian moderate opposition forces, not isis. and so when francois hollande goes to meet with vladimir putin later this week, he says he will take the message that both leaders want the help of russia, but want their focus to be like you see with the u.s. and france, focused on isis, not on trying to lift up assad inside syria. steve? >> kelly o'donnell at the white house. if you'll stand by, we'll be coming back to you. as you see on the left side of the screen, that ceremony where president obama will award the presidential medal of freedom to 17 americans. that ceremony expected to begin any minute now. we'll show you live coverage of that when it happens. again, the president bestowing the highest civilian honor in this country on 17 well known people.

we will be showing you that in a minute. but for now, we are going to move over to paris. that is where authorities are keeping up their relentless pursuit of those behind the paris attacks. and today, we are learning much more about the consequences of that raid last week, another potential attack said to have been disrupted by that raid. and authorities are on the hunt for another key suspect, asking the public for help, finding this man, mohamed abrini. nbc's chris jansing joins us now from paris. so, chris, this new face that's sort of been added to the mix here, what do we know in terms of why authorities are interested in him? >> he's 30 years old. we had not heard about him before today, but he was caught on surveillance video, extensive photographs from a gas station about an hour and a half north of paris on the highway to paris. what's interesting is who was the passenger in the car he was driving, the most wanted man in europe, salah abdeslam. and the renault they were in, it

was used later in the paris attacks. police say they are both armed and dangerous. abdeslam of course has been the subject of a massive manhunt, particularly in belgium, where they have put more than a thousand police on the case. and they are hoping that someone who sees these pictures will spot them, call it in, or give them other information that will lead to them. in the meantime, the mastermind, abdelhamid abaaoud, you'll remember that he was killed in that saint-denis raid last week. now police are saying that on that night, remember the raid went for seven hours, from tuesday into wednesday, that he and the other man who were killed in that raid, actually planned to use those suicide vests in the business district here in paris for another attack to kill more innocent people. so it looks as though, at least according to the paris prosecutor, by stopping them by the death of three people who were in that apartment in saint-den saint-denis, they were able to

foil another attack. and in a paris courtroom today, the landlord of that apartment was the first person who was charged with terrorism-related charges. he had been telling police for days he didn't know who the people were, that he was doing it as a favor for the friend, loaning them that apartment. they obviously didn't believe it, and now he has been formally charged with a related terrorism charge. and finally, just to show you again, the wide net that they're casting, 1,233 searches since that set of attacks that killed 130 people. 165 people are in custody. more than 200 weapons have been seized. steve? >> all right, chris jansing, thanks for the update from paris. appreciate that. and the turkish military meanwhile shot down a russian warplane it claims was in turkish airspace. it could have serious repercussions in the war against isis. turkey said it wander the russian jet ten times before

firing it down. the russian plane went down in flames crashing in an area known as the turkmen mountains in syria. nato held a meeting, standing by u turkey. meanwhile, vladimir putin is accusing turkey of helping isis and he's canceled a visit to turkey by his foreign minister. here's what president obama had to say about the incident. >> turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace. i think it's very important right now for us to make sure that both the russians and the turks are talking to each other, find out exactly what happened. and take measures to discourage any kind of escalation. >> now, earlier today, i had a chance to speak to presidential candidate and senator lindsey graham. >> a no-fly zone makes sense. it stops the reason that refer

je -- refugees have to flee the region. the entire area is in chaos. so a no-fly zone will allow the syrian people a respite from this fight. we need a no-fly zone yesterday. and as to the russians -- >> that's the question. >> they need to stop what they're doing. >> you shoot them down? >> shoot them down, absolutely. >> and joining us for more from turkey is nbc's richard engel. >> steve, u.s. officials and nato officials and turkish officials all say that the russian jets did, in fact, violate turkish airspace, if only briefly. a u.s. official said that it was just a matter of seconds that this russian su-24 bomber passed through turkish airspace and then continued on its mission in syria. so was that enough to warrant

this very provocative, very aggressive response from turkey, scrambling f-16s, shooting down a jet, killing at least one russian pilot, causing a rescue mission in which another helicopter pilot -- russian helicopter pilot was killed. it seems to many analysts that it's not. that there must have been another reason. and one of the big reasons that people are pointing to is the target. that russian jets, particularly in that area, the area where this incident took place, have been attacking a rebel group, an anti-assad rebel group, and that the majority of the members of that rebel group are turkmen nationals, ethnic turkmen. and the turkish government has complained repeatedly about russian attacks and syrian government attacks on turkmen rebels. turkey feels it has -- that as the home of the turks, it has a

duty to defend turkish people wherever they are. and this sensitivity about the targets that the russians were striking, could explain why turkey could such a provocative action at this sensitive time. steve? >> thank you, richard engel. i want to bring in steven hadley, former adviser to president bush. president obama today at this press conference, he said, dialing back the tensions between russia and turkey, making sure the situation doesn't get any worse is his top priority right now. i'm wondering, though, based on what we just heard from richard engel, the turks look at this as they're protecting essentially their people from russia. russia says, you just shot down one of our planes. is it possible to dial it back right now? >> well, the underlying problem, of course is that while russia says it's in syria to attack isis and to roll back isis, that's of course operationally not what they're doing.

they are attacking non-isis forces, opposition forces, many of them supported by the united states, in this case, turkmen. and in this case, civilian turkmen. so while russia used the threat of isis for the intervention, the intervention is for a different set of purposes, it's to shore up assad, to deal the russians in on the negotiations of the future of syria. and regrettably, the russians are only belatedly beginning to turn their attention to isis. that's really the problem and that's why this incident occurred in the first place. >> we played a clip there of my conversation with lindsey graham earlier. the topic that was raised there, the idea of imposing a no-fly zone over syria. and the criticism of that idea is hey, look, if russia in particular violates that no-fly zone, what do you do? lindsey graham said you shoot

them down. but the implications of the u.s. trying to enforce a no-fly zone and the u.s. potentially shooting down a russian plane, is that something that's wise for our country to be getting into? >> look, the first preference of everybody ought to be to get an agreement with russia to join a coalition to go after isis and only isis. that's the threat that threatens all of us. to deconflict their operations, so that you don't have these incidents in the future and to make sure that assad, president assad of syria, does not use this as an opportunity to unleash his air force, to kill innocent syrians with barrel bombs. what he's been doing for weeks and months. but so far, the russians have not been willing to do that. so if you really are going to bring down the violence, if you're going to protect opposition forces that we have trained and assisted and if you're going to help and protect the syrian people from assad's barrel bombs, the only

alternative we get forced to is a no-fly zone and the kind of humanitarian safe areas that senator graham talked about. and yes, there are risks and why you ought to try and negotiate the kind of understanding i outlined first. but if you can't, we've got to wind down this war and we've got to make some progress against isis. and that's going to require some hard measures like the kind of no-fly zone that senator graham talked about. >> i'm curious what you heard coming out of the press conference. the meeting between president obama and president hollande. if there's agreement here in terms of strategy. we heard hollande basically say he doesn't think it's a ground war for france to be fighting. the president himself has made clear he doesn't want to sound ground troops in any large numbers over there. what was your read from them today in terms of a strategy going forward? did you hear one out of that meeting? >> i think we didn't. i think what you heard was an effort to ramp up actions so that both periods could indicate

to their populations that they were doing more about isis. i don't think it's enough to significantly roll back isis. look, isis' great recruiting technique is that it controls territory, it has a caliphate, and it will continue to have that recruiting vehicle that has drown thousands, tens of thousands of people to iraq and syria, until we start taking away that territory. that's going to require from ground forces, better ground forces of other countries, but you can't do it from the air alone. at the same time, we need to pursue the kind of negotiations and diplomatic solution that secretary kerry is thinking in vienna. but you got to have both elements. you got to get tougher against isis, and that will strengthen your hands for your diplomacy to try to find a way forward. >> all right, steven hadley, former national security adviser, thanks for your time. >> nice to be with you. we'll bring you that presidential medal of freedom ceremony we've been talking about live, when it happens.

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>> all right, again you are looking at live video there from the white house. that presidential medal of freedom ceremony is now getting under way. the honorees, 17 of them, they've been seated. you can see them on your screen there. we are waiting on the president now to begin this ceremony formally. again, a number of prominent names being honored today. steven spielberg, senator barbara mikulski, gloria estefan. the president now making his way to the front of the room. you can see he's on stage is about to begin. let's take a listen. >> thank you, thank you. everybody please have a seat. everybody have a seat. welcome to the white house, everybody. >> thank you! >> thank you, mr. president!

>> a bunch of people were saying i was pretty busy today, which is true. [ laughter ] but this is a fun kind of busy right here. today we celebrate some extraordinary people, innovators, artists, and leaders, who contribute to america's strength as a nation. and we offer them our highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. [ applause ] >> let me tell you just a little bit about them. although, i suspect people here already know their stories. growing up in west virginia, kathryn johnson counted everything.

she counted steps, she counted the distance to the church. by 10 years old, she was in high school. by 18, she had graduated from college with degrees in math and french. as an african american woman, job options were limited, but she was eventually hired as one of several female mathematicians for the agency that would become nasa. kathryn calculated the flight path for america's first mission in space. the path that put neil armstrong on the moon. she was even asked to double-check the computer's math on john glenn's orbit around the earth. so if you think your job is pressure-packed -- [ laughter ] -- hers meant that forgetting to carry the one might send somebody floating off into the

solar system. [ laughter ] in her 33 years at nasa, kathryn was a pioneer who broke the barriers of race and gender, showing generations of young people that everyone can excel in math and science and reach for the stars. in the early 1960s, a lawyer names bill ruckelhouse drove through indiana in a truck, taking samples from streams choked with dead fish. he called it a very good time. i think we have different definitions of a very good time. but it was all part of protecting americans from big polluters. in 1970 when richard nixon created the environmental protection agency, he made bill, a fellow republican, its first director. under bill's leadership, the epa with developed new clean-air standards, banned the harmful

pesticide ddt. most importantly, bill set a powerful precedent that, protecting our environment is something we must come together and do as a country. he became known as mr. clean and lived up to that nickname when he resigned from the nixon administration rather than derail the watergate investigation. he's never rutruly retired. in recent years he's led the fight to protect pujet sounds and he's urged has fellow republicans to protect climate change. he reminds us how noble public service can be. and our air and water is cleaner and our lives are brighter because of him. >> back in 1966, plans were made

for a new highway. it was about to happen until it ran into a young social worker and let's just say you don't want to be on the wrong side of barbara mim ul ski. [ laughter ] she stopped that highway and jump-started one of the finest public service careers we've ever seen. for decades barbara has been a lioness on capitol hill, fighting for hard-working families, for hi-tech, fighting for the prospects of america's women and girls. i couldn't have been prouder have her by my side as i signed in law the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. and barbara's legacy -- [ applause ]

barbara's legacy reflects her roots. a mom who offered credit to steel workers on strike, and a dad who greeted every customer with can i help you? we're all lucky that that's a question barbara's been asking and answers longer than any female lawmaker in our history. [ applause ] there are people in our country's history who don't look left or right, they just look straight ahead. shirley chism is one of those people. driven by a profound commitment to justice, she became the first african american congresswoman, the first african american to run for president. when shirley was new york city, she said peaapparently all they know about brooklyn here in washington is that a tree grew

there. [ laughter ] but she made the most of her new role, helping to create the supplemental nutrition program that feeds poor mothers and their children. shirley chism's example transcends her life. when asked how she'd like to be remembered, she had an answer. i'd like them to say that shirley chism had guts. i'm proud to say it. shirley chism had guts. at its best, lee hamilton once said, representative democracy gives us a system where all of us have a voice in the process and a stake in the product. his 34 years in congress, lee hamilton represented his district, his beloved indiana, and his country with integrity and honor. helped guide us through the cold war and into a new era of

american leadership. a man widely admired on both sides of the aisle for his honesty, wisdom, and consistent commitment to bipartisanship. from serving as vice chair of the 9/11 commission, to making congress more effective, lee remains a tireless public servant and a trusted adviser and friend to many and i'm proud to count myself among them. we also celebrate those who have stirred our souls and lifted our spirits as icons of the stage, screen, and song. born in brooklyn to a middle class jewish family -- i didn't know you were jewish, barbara. [ laughter ] barbara streisand attended her first broadway show at age 14

and remembered thinking, i can go up on that stage and play any role without any trouble at all. that's what's called hutzpah. [ laughter ] and it helps when you've got amazing talent, all of which made her a global sensation, one whose voice has been described as liquid diamonds and whose fans have considered bronzing her used coffee cups. [ laughter ] she has sold more albums in america than any woman in history. she has collected just about every honor and award that there is. i couldn't believe she hadn't gotten this one. [ laughter ] off the stage, she's been a passionate advocate for issues like heart disease and women's equality. i'm getting all reclent just

thinking about it. [ laughter ] in an interview, violinisti itzk pearlman was asked what sound he likes. and he said the sound of onions frying in a pan. he's a man of a great appetite. also happens to be a pretty good musician and persevered to become not only a virtuoso he's played with virtually every orchestra in the world, he's won grammys, he's won emmys. he's performed with all the greats. leonard bernstein, yo-yo ma. tele from sesame street.

but what truly sets him apart and what makes him perhaps the most beloved violinist of our time, he approached music the way he approaches everything in life, with passion and with joy. he lays bare the sole of a peace and by doing so, he makes the world a little more beautiful. i'm proud to call the next honoree a friend as well. a lot of people say that about james taylor. that's what happens when you spend more decades telling people "just call out my name and i'll come running." [ laughter ] that's the thing about james. you always feel like he's singing only to you. as a fan of his once said, james can turn an arena into a living

room. that's why he became one of the drivering forces of the singer songwriter movement and his honesty and candor about overcoming substance abuse has inspired people all over the world. so come fire or rain, carolina, mexico, or a country road, james taylor is there to comfort us, to help us look within and to urge us all to shower the people we love with love. [ laughter ] on a miami night in 1975, a young woman named gloria walked into a wedding reception and saw a handsome young man named emillio leading his band. he was playing "do the hustle" on an accordion. [ laughter ] i'm quoting her now. she said she found this sexy and brave. [ laughter ] i mean the brave part, i

understand. but turns out he had a few other things up his sleeve. he brought her up to sing a few songs that night, invited her to join his band. a few months later, emilio asked gloria for a birthday kiss. it wasn't his birthday, but he got the kiss anyway. and emilio and gloria estefan have been partners on and off stage ever since. some worried they were too american for lattins and too latin for americans. turns out everybody just wanted to dance and do the conga. and together their fusion sound has sold more than 100 million records. and as proud cuban americans, they have promoted their cultural heritage and inspired fans all over the world. an awful lot of people have gone to musicals to forget their troubles, just like they were

dancing to the estefans' music. and stephen sondheim, i think is someone who is not interested in that. as a composer and a lyricist, and a genre unto himself. sondheim challenges his audiences. his greatest hits aren't tunes you can hum. they're reflections on roads we didn't take and wishes gone wrong. relationships so frayed and fractured there's nothing left to do but send in the clowns. yet steven's music is so beautiful, his lyrics so precise that even as he exposes the imperfections of everyday life, he transcends them. we transcend them. put simply, steven reinvented the american musical. has loomed large over more than six decades in the theater. and with revivals from broadway

to the big screen, he's still here, pulling us up short and giving us support for being alive. here's how steven spielberg once explained his creative process. once a month, the sky falls on my head. i come to and i see another movie i want to make. this sounds painful for steven, but it has worked out pretty well for the rest of us. in his career, steven has introduced us to extra terest reals. rogue archaeologies, killer sharks, taken us to neverland, jurassic park, but also the beaches of normandy, and nazi concentration camps. despite redefining the word prolific, a spielberg movie is still a spiel bubergspielberg m.

somebody's calling him right now to make a pitch. so there's this really goods-looking president and -- [ laughter [ laughter ] >> a spielberg movie, marked by boundless imagination, worlds rendered in extraordinary detail, characters who struggled to seize control of their destinies, all of that reminds us so powerfully of our own lives, and steven's films are marked most importantly by our faith in a common humanity, the same faith in humanity that led him to create the shaw foundation and lend a voice to survivors of genocide around the world. his stories have shaped america's story and his values have shaped our world. so we celebrate artists, public

servants, and two legends from america's pastime. what can be said about lawrence yogi berra that he couldn't say better himself? the son of an italian bricklayer. they called him yogi because he sat like one while waiting to bat. and he was born to play baseball. but he loved his country. and at 18, he left st. louis for the navy and ultimately found himself on omaha beach. after he returned, yogi embarked on a career that would make him one of the greatest catchers of all time. with the yankees he played in 14 world series in 18 years, won 10 world series rings, had three mvp awards. he haddas one biographer put it, the winningest career in the history of american sports. nobody's won as much as this guy. and he coached the game as hard

as he played it. he lived his life with pride and humility, and an original open mind. one thing we know for sure, if you can't imitate him, don't copy him. [ laughter ] took everybody a while. we don't have time to list all of willie mays' statistics. 660 home runs, .302 lifetime batting average, the list goes on and on. i won't describe that miracle grab at the polo grounds either, because willie says that wasn't even his best catch. i will say this, we've never seen an all-around player quite like willie before and we haven't seen one since. he could throw, hit for contact and power, and he was so fast, he could barely keep a hat on

his head. on top of that, willie also served our country. and his quiet example while serving on one of america's biggest stages, helped carry forward the banner of civil rights. a few years ago willie rode with me on air force once. i told him then, it's because of giants like willie that someone me could even think about running for president. [ applause ] and finally we celebrate those who have challenged us to live up to our values. billy frank jr liked to say, i wasn't a policy guy. i was a getting arrested guy. and that's true. billy was arrested more than 50 times in his fight to protect tribal fishing rights and save the salmon that have fed his family for generations.

he was spat on, shot at, chased and clubbed, but he kept on fighting. and a federal judge agreed, honoring the promises made to northwest tribes more than a century before. billy went on to become a national voice for indian country and a warrior for the natural world. i don't believe in magic, billy once said. i believe in the sun and the stars, the water, the hawks flying, the rivers running, the wind talking. they tell us how healthy we are, because we and they are the same. 23 years ago, bonnie carol's world was turned upside down. her husband tom was killed in a plane crash along with seven other soldiers. heart broken, bonnie began healing the only way that she

knew, by helping others. she founded the tragedy assistance program for survivors, creating a national community to support the families of our fallen service members. and each year, taps holds seminars and workshops for military families across the country. through their good grief camps, they bring together children of our fallen to learn how to cope with loss, to honor the legacy of their heroes and to try and have fun as well. at one gold star child who lost her father in iraq said, because of taps, i know someone is by my side. on a saturday night in march of 1942, nora yasui left his law office to walk around portland, oregon. it opposed the curfew imposed on japanese americans during world war ii. he took his case to the supreme

court and lost. a decision he fought for the rest of his life. yet despite what japanese americans endured, suspicion, hostility, forced removal, internment, min never stopped believing in the promise of his country. he never stopped fighting for equality and justice for all. we believe in the greatness and in the great ideals of this country, he once said. we think that there is a future for all humanity in the united states of america. today, min's legacy has never been more important. it is a call to our national conscience, a reminder of our enduring obligation to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. an america worthy of his sacrifice. so ladies and gentlemen, these are the recipients of the 2015 presidential medal of freedom. let's give them a big round of

applause. [ cheers and applause ] >> that was the president awarding the medal of freedom, or giving tributes to all 17 who will soon receive their own medals. we'll take a quick break. while we wait to hear from mare rahm emanuel in chicago. also police superintendent gary mccarthy. they are going to be speaking to the media regarding the laquan mcdonald days, a black teenage who was shot 16 times last october. we'll bring you that as soon as it begins.

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all right, turning now to chicago where we're expecting to hear any minute now where a police officer accused of shooting a black teenager 16 times last october is now charged with first-degree murder. officer jason van dyke turned himself into authorities this morning. he's accused of fatally shooting laquan mcdonald after he slashed the tires of a patrol car. the officer said he feared for his life. the confrontation was caught on a police dash cam video and the city has until tomorrow to make that video public. the state's attorney held a press conference earlier where

she went into detail about the shooting incident. >> the officer that opened on laquan, his arm jerked, his body spins around and he falls to the ground. in the 13 seconds he was on the ground, he jerked slightly. our investigation determined the officer was on the scene for less than 30 seconds before he started shooting. >> meanwhile, the chicago fraternal order of police are worried the video would spark a public outcry. saying, we are concerned about his safety and every other officer's safety. we are concerned if in fact there is civil unrest after this video is released. ari, we are waiting for that press conference out of chicago. mayor emmanuel and gary mccarthy are expected to address the press. the video is out there, the

state's attorney was describing it today, calling it chilling. she was saying this is something that would be very disturbing for people to watch. the mayor, as i understand it, has not been in favor of releasing this video. >> that's right. and we're here awaiting the mayor's comments. this will not be a normal news conference. this is going to be a significant moment for the people of chicago, for this officer indicted on first-degree murder today, that hasn't happened in decades in chicago. indeed that almost never happens and there's a good legal reason for that. if you're an on-duty officer and you make a mistake, even a grave one, that's almost always a second-degree murder or lesser charge, because you still had every right to hold a weapon and be engaged. first-degree murder is what we associate with federal crimes, mafia hits, terrorism, a premeditated or depraved heart murder. so the notion that that is what this prosecutor said today for the first time said this video shows is striking. we'll hear from the mayor to explain what you just touched on. why for months and months did he

basically fight the attempt to release the video in any way? earlier on msnbc kate snow and i interviewed the reporter who put in the foia request and sued to get the tape released. the other thing, the prosecutor said, hey, yes, we have waited a while. now we make this announcement and she admitted, the reason she did it today was because there's a court ordered deadline for the video to go public tomorrow. so there's a public safety discussion about what the reaction to this video is and the concern understandable about whether people will get angry about it and even go into the streets. but that's secondary. the primary thing is, what is on this video? and the prosecutor again today, what she described was a chilling scenario where multiple officers and police cars were already surrounding this individual dealing with the scene. and she said the officer who arrived on the scene late basically came out and within 30 seconds of exiting his car, discharged 16 rounds into this

young man and did so for the majority of the rounds while he was already on the ground. then sought to reload and was held back by other officers. again, that's according to the prosecutor. that's one side of the case. that's the government going after this officer. we'll hear from mayor emmanuel who said it's the right decision and the chief of police. but it's a lot to digest. >> and the video we're talking about, this is the police dash cam and it captured the incident? >> that's correct. it's a police video. there are other videos from a nearby burger king. but the key ingredient again was this video. another important point that jumped out to me, legally from that presentation today and we'll hear again any moment what the mayor and the chief of police are going to say about it, but what jumped out, the prosecutor said, hey, there were nine cops on the scene. this officer who discharged this many rounds into this young teenager was the only one who used any force. and the force that he used was 16 rounds and reportedly attempted to reload.

>> i'm trying to get to this. you're saying to prove first-degree murder, which we typically associate with like a premeditated act or something, to prove that part of the case here, sounds like they're saying, look, a bunch of police officers were there, they had the situation under control, and this officer fully aware of that came in and killed the guy anyway. >> that's correct. a charge of excessive force or even unlawful killing would be that you didn't have justification to use force. that gets you there. this is that next step, that basically and the prosecutor said this, that you didn't have justification to use that force, number one. and number two, even after this individual was hurt, was on the ground, et cetera, you continued in a deliberate manner to then shoot to kill. now the fact that, again, according to what we have in the bond statement, which is just a first step, according to what the prosecutor alleges, the majority of those 16 bullets discharged while mcdonald was already on the ground. now if you're on the ground if you have bullet holes in you,

you may not be an immediate threat anymore. and that is the second legal step, according to the prosecutor, where they're saying this officer then continued to deliberately shoot to kill. this is highly unusual. this is just people at home may say, well, we've seen some other press conferences recently, we've seen some other moments around policing in this country and the president on down, people have talked about it. but a first-degree murder charge for this kind of situation unusual. the fact that there's video and it took a year to come out, also striking. >> ari melber, stay with us, if you will. it looks like that press conference -- there is mayor emanuel, that press conference about to begin right now. they've taken their place at the podium. let's go out there and hear what they have to say.

>> okay, everybody, you would think from the size of the number of people up here at the podium, that we were here tonight to discuss good news, because, unfortunately, that's the way it usually goes. and in this case, we're here to talk about some bad news. but also some opportunity. as you all know last year on october 20th, one of our police officers shot and killed a young man named laquan mcdonald and since that time, the investigation into the circumstances of that event has been ongoing. the officer was stripped of his police powers immediately. as you all know, today, he was charged with first-degree murder

by the state's attorney, anita alvarez. and as a result, he's been put into what's known as a no-pay status. so he's no longer being paid by the chicago police department. that is part of our contractual obligation with the fraternal order of police here in chicago and that's the process that we've undergone. every day in this city, you see thousands of officers performing admirably and making a difference, every single day in the lives of individuals here in chicago. the officer in this case took a young man's life and he's going to have to account for his actions. and that's what today is all about. today is about accountability. we're all accountable for our actions. since i've come to this police department, you've heard me talk about accountability over and over and over again. and we all hold ourselves accountable. in this case, we have a tragic

ending to, unfortunately, a tragic life of a young man, who has was betrayed on a number of different levels. and this ended up in his death. we are not the least bit pleased about this. and at the end of the day, you've got to respect the men and women who are out there doing this job, every single day, without incident, and when there are incidents, they're usually positive. as you know last week, we were ordered to turn over the dash cam video of the events surrounding this particular endeavor and we're prepared to do that. what i suspect is the same thing that we talk about frequently, which is the fact that people have a right hob angry. people have a right to protest. people have a right to free speech, but they do not have a right to commit criminal acts. and at the end of the day, the chicago police department has trained for and we're one of the

leaders in mass demonstrations. we're prepared to facilitate people's first amendment right to free speech, but we will be intolerant of criminal behavior here in the city of chicago. and quite frankly, as i talk this morning about the capabilities of our men and women in this department, i stand here again tonight to reiterate that. that our officers will be professional in their conduct and we expect that we're going to have community support to facilitate whatever protests come our way. and i'm really confident in the community, as far as being behind us. unfortunately, we have some work to do to obtain the trust, as many police departments in this country are struggling in the same vein. so, we're here tonight to release that video and, obviously, we're going to talk a little bit, and then we'll take your questions. for now, i'll turn it over to mayor rahm emanuel. >> thank you, superintendent. first and foremost, i also want to thank both the religious

leaders, community leaders, as well as the other elected officials that are here today, for the city of chicago. like all public servants that are here, including officers, we hold our police officers to a high standard, and obviously, this case, jason van dyke, violated both the standards of professionalism that come with being a police officer, but also the basic moral standards that bind our community together. jason van dyke will be judged in a court of law. that's exactly how it should be. as of today, he's no long run being paid by the city of chicago, as the superintendent just noted, and he was stripped of his police powers ten minutes ago. obviously, anyone that sees this video will also make their own judgments of jason van dyke and his actions. the incident, the actions and the video will be debated and discussed in the days ahead. but we as a city of chicago, all

of us, also have to make an important judgment about ourselves and our city as we go forward. that we will rise to this moment, what this incident demands of all of us in this city. and my view is this episode can be a moment of understanding and learning. will we use it and the question before all of us, will we use this episode in this moment to build bridges that bring us together as a city, or will we allow it to become a way that erects barriers that tear us apart as a city. we need, as a city to get to a point where young men in our community and in parts of our city see an officer and don't just see an officer with a uniform and a badge, but they see them as a partner in helping them reach their full potential. and they see in that officer a mentor, a little league coach, a leader in the church and in

their community, which they are. but we also have to get to a place as a city where officers who patrol communities in our city see a young man not as a potential problem and a risk, but they also see in that young man as an individual who is worthy of their protection and their potential. they see a student, they see an athlete, and they see an artist. the future of the city of chicago lies within each of us. and i believe we as a city must rise to this moment to answer that call, not only to ourselves, individually, but to our community and our city. this will no doubt be a challenge. but as somebody who believes that every challenge is an opportunity, i believe within the city, not just in the police department, not just in our

places of worship, but throughout the city, people of good faith love their city, love their neighborhood and community and the rsesidents that make it up, but know that this moment doesn't speak to who we are and what we can become. and all of us in one way or another are leaders. and our responsibility is to challenge us and challenge not only ourselves, but the people we speak for and represent, to look within ourselves and reach for the future of the city of chicago we know we can. i believe this is a moment that can build bridges of understanding rather than become a barrier of misunderstanding. i understand that people will be upset and will want to protest when they see this video. but i would like to echo the

comments of the mcdonald family. they have asked for calm and for those who choose to speak out, to do it peacefully. they said they did not want the violence to be resorted to in laquan's name, but let his legacy be better than that. it is fine to be passionate, but it is essential that it remain peaceful. we have a collective responsibility in the city of chicago, the city we love, to ensure that this opportunity for healing begins now. my heart goes out to the mcdonald family on their loss. i want to thank all of our community leaders here in the city of chicago for their leadership and their partnership, and more importantly, for the responsibility they take every day. it is now the time to come together as one city, show respect for one another. we work every day in building a culture of trust and respect for

one another. most of all, now is time to build a lasting partnership for peace. we have a great deal of work ahead of us as a city. all of us will be judged by our actions and i call on all of us to look within it inside ourselves, to see this moment as a potential to do something that we talked about and discussed, but for reasons that have not actually endeavored to journey. i want to work together as a city to be the city that we can be. there will be moments of challenge, there'll be moments that question, but i actually believe in the character of the people that make up this city and now we must work together to bring t