wesley bell is a city council-elect from ferguson and joins me. welcome to the programme. what did you make to the video out of north charleston. >> watching the video and having an opportunity to watch it several times, it looks like murder. >> i can't think of any other way to describe it. >> does the existence of the video change in the way you are watching it unfold. does it change the conversation. we had a law enforcement expert a career law enforcement guest in the first segment. it seems like the reaction has been muted and measured. >> well you know i think as they say a picture tells 1,000 words. you know reading it because i initially read the article and it sounded, you know it was bad, obviously, and seeing the video, i mean it literally turned my stomach. you know understanding the - as an attorney understanding the law, i can't see a way around it. i don't see any way to justify the use of deadly force in that situation. when i look at the mannerisms of the officer in this - in that video. it wasn't one that was under - it wasn't a person under distress, it

. >> adrian hawk inns wesley bell lee smith, ella jones - they are vying for seats on the ferguson city council and are up i gains some challengers. for one, it's low pay for a lot of work. council members are given $250 a week. most also hold full-time jobs, and there's a bigger challenge - low voter tonne out. a 'washington post' analysis estimates that in the 2013 municipal election 6% of blacks and 17% of whites turned out. >> this is where michael brown was shot and killed by a ferguson police officers. but from a voter perspective it's important. turn out here is low. during the last election ward three's election won by 23 votes. >> the real reason for that is they are constantly voting for the same people. >> reporter: 76-year-old lee smith is running for city council in ward 3. for him everything changed in september when he went to a heated city council meeting. >> look around you, we are not going to let you go back to business as usual. >> smith's opponent wesley bell, a criminal justice professor and municipal judge who is also black. how big a factor is race in this electi

louis native took his own advice. >> i would like to introduce your next city councilman wesley bell! ( cheers and applause ). >> i had no intention of running for city council, much less any office. >> reporter: what was the need you saw? >> i saw a need for leadership. >> reporter: bell, a 40-year-old lawyer and criminology professor, says he's proud to be a part of a history-making council with three white members and three black members. in ferguson since the shootings, volunteers got sixth 8 new voters registered. eric fey is director of elections. >> it's fairly uncommon for local municipal elections to have a lot of people going door to door and handing out leaflets, definitely not to the extent it happened in ferguson this time. >> reporter: councilman-elect bell says in light of the scathing justice deps report, he's looking forward to make a difference. >> we have a chance with the world watching to show what change can look like so that can have a positive ripple effect throughout the world. >> reporter: ballot results won't be official until a mandated audit is finished by

ella jones and wesley bell will join the city council with another african-american member already one of six members were white. voter turnout doubled from the last election in 2014. a report from the justice departments concluded african-americans were unfairly targeted by police in ferguson. the police chief and city manager resigned shortly after that report was released while two-thirds of the residents are black in the st. louis suburb a black majority has never been reflected in their representation. the council has had only two black council members since 1894. joining me tonight, victorious wesley bell now a ferguson city council member elect. >> thanks for having me. >> did you expect this? did you feel and see this change coming? >> you know it's been a process. you know a lot of things have happened in our community, things that we could have never anticipated. and i think the elections yesterday are indicative of that. >> how about the turnout? was it something you did expect? were people motivated? could you feel that? >> i'll tell you what early in the day i was nervous

that's ella jones and wesley bell.is a city where at the time of brown's death, only three members of the city's entire police force were black. well now the six-member city council is half black, half white. voter turnout in ferguson was reported at more than 29%, which is nearly double the turnout of the april 2014 election. >>> moving overseas a u.s. service member was shot and killed in eastern afghanistan today. officials say an afghan soldier opened fire in jalalabad after a meet meeting of afghan and american officials. jamie mac entire is live at the pentagon. good evening to you. what else do we know about today's attack? >> reporter: morgan, you know i have to say pentagon officials were sort of holding their breath as days went by without a single u.s. casualty. in the year then weeks and months and today, the word came that there had been an attack in eastern afghanistan, a u.s. military official was part of a -- a u.s. soldier was part of a security daily that was protecting a u.s. diplomat meeting with a

al jazeera ferguson, missouri. >> wesley bell won one of those city council seats in the election and joins us live from st. louis. wesley councilman elect bell, congratulations. >> thank you. i am honored and humbled and so appreciative. >> what does your election signify for the city of ferguson and put that aside for a second. what does it signify for you and your family, what does it mean for you personally? >> for me, personally, it's more about my supporters, my staff my volunteers, who worked their tails off to make this happen. it was all about community engagement. it was all about public service. everything we did had those goals in mind, and the fact that we got a record number of people has have come out to the polls and our ward is indicative of the positive response of that message. >> community engagement. what did you say? what did you run on? >> that's it. our entire campaign, as we like to calm it, our entire movement was about public service and oftentimes our public servants forget that part of the title. they forget the service part. as a result, everything that w

wesley bell was one of them.erguson city council now has three african-american members and three white members. and while a 29% turnout doesn't seem like much, it's more than double the 12% that voted last election. ultimately, history was made here on tuesday, a change was made to the levers of power. the question now is, will it be enough? >> we have an opportunity to effectuate broad, sustainable change. and i think we've got to take advantage of that. we can't look back three years from now and say, oh, we missed an opportunity. >> talking to me now, msnbc's national reporter, trymaine lee, whose voice you heard tracking that. you're now in north charleston, came straight from ferguson, where you're covering that election. in terms of ferguson, there was a lot of emphasis, effort, and attention put on that election. what was your big takeaway from it? >> reporter: i think the big takeaway was is that over the course of seven months, the question really was always going to be, could all the organizing, all th

. >>> my name is wesley bell and i'm running for city council. >> wesley bell is part of a sea change first large group of african-americans running for city government. >> i'm running for city council. >> a council that's traditionally been white, just like the police department while the city is mostly black. this election three of the council's six seats are vacant and for the first time in its history, ferguson could see half its city government represented by african-americans. >> you have to fold up or show up. if you're going to be a part of the solution you have to put your foot out there and do it. right now we are in war three. in ferguson. this is the ward where the tragedy occurred. >> the tragedy. >> less than a mile away. ferguson police officer shot michael brown. >> if you're not in office you're limited in what you can do and i just felt helpless. >> so did adrian hawkins. >> i watched the buildings burn from my house. >> hawkins has no political past but her resume is thick with a life lived in ferguson and as a single working mother to 20-year-old twins. >> the thou

ashley jones and wesley bell were sworn in tonight.ítd4b wesley bell is on the far right, a professors program following the killing of michael brown. half of the six-member city council is now african-american, a first in the council's 120-year history. >>> up next, how fake meat -- this is true -- could help save the planet. i care deeply about the gulf. i grew up in louisiana. i went to school here. i've been with bp ever since. today, i lead a team that sets our global safety standards. after the spill we made two commitments. to help the gulf recover and become a safer company. we've worked hard to honor both. bp has spent nearly 28 billion dollars so far to help the gulf economy and environment. and five years of research shows that the gulf is coming back faster than predicted. we've toughened safety standards too. including enhanced training... and 24/7 on shore monitoring of our wells drilling in the gulf. and everyone has the power to stop a job at any time if they consider it unsafe. what happened here five years ago changed us. i'm proud of the progress we've made both in

ashley jones and wesley bell were sworn in tonight.on the far right a professor and local imagine is trait and was on this program following the killing of michael brown. half of the six-member city council is now african-american a first in the council's 120-year history. >>> up next how fake our expert trained technicians... state of the art technology and warranty parts keep your vehicle running right. it's no wonder we sold more than 3.5 million tires last year and durning the big tire event get a $120 mail in rebate on 4 select tires. ♪ we all enter this world with a shout and we see no reason to stop. so cvs health is creating industry-leading programs and tools that help people stay on medicines as their doctors prescribed. it could help save tens of thousands of lives every year. and that w ould be something worth shouting about. cvs health, because health is everything. next. ♪♪ expected wait time: 55 minutes. your call is important to us. thank you for your patience. waiter! vo: in the nation, we know how it feels when you ar

one is wesley bell.e told my colleague that police reform is one of the top issues on his agenda. >> how bad are ferguson's finances and how much worse could they become now that they are no longer trying to balance their books with fines particularly on the backs of black people. >> well let me get sworn, but one of the things i want to do first is i went -- and i ran on this and it was about community oriented policing and police reform and we have two open meetings that i intend to be very active in filling, and i think i'm someone who can enhance that process, you know, community -- i -- whatever chief we bring in ferguson they need to be about the community. i don't think a police department should be judged by how many tickets a police officer should be judged by how many tickets he writes i would rather him be judged by how many people he knows in the community. and that's about information going in two ways not just implementing implementing policy but getting the community's input on that policy

wesley bell a judge and professor of criminal justice, was elected to represent the ferguson neighborhood where michael brown was killed. what is the problem between police and minority community? >> there's too much us verse them. let me be clear on both sides. we got to start bridging that gap. >> reporter: and when that new council meets here in ferguson, it will have some real power. new police chief, city manager and municipal court judge, decisions that could profoundly change the direction of this town. lester? >> ron allen in ferguson tonight. thanks. >>> for the first time since december an american soldier has been killed in afghanistan. seven others were wounded when a man in an afghan military uniform opened fire on them at a governor's compound in jalalabad, according to u.s. officials. american forces returned fire and killed the gunman. the shootout happened just after a high-ranking u.s. embassy official had left the compound. >>> a lot more news still ahead as we continue tonight. millions bracing for tornadoes, watches and warnings across several states right now. a majo

. >> adrien hawkins wesley bell, lee smith ella jones they're all vying for seats on ferguson's city council and are up against some challenges. for one it's low pay for a lot of work. council members are given just $250 a week, most also hold full time jobs. there's an even bigger challenge. low voter turnout. a washington post analysis estimates that in the 2013 municipal election, only 6% of blacks and 17% of whites turned out. this is where michael brown was shot and killed by a ferguson police officer. from a voter perspective it's also important turnout here is notoriously low. during the last election, representatives one by just 23 votes. >> the real reason for that as i see it is that their constantly voting for the same people. >> 76-year-old lee smith is running for city council in ward three. for him everything changed in september, when he went to a heated city council meeting. >> look around you we're not going to let you go back to, at usual. >> smith's opponent for ward three city council wesley bell, a criminal justice professor and judge who is also black. >> how bi

even though nearly 70% of ferguson citizens are black wesley bell talked to tony harris this morning.our entire movement was about public servants. and oftentimes our public servants forget that part of the title. they forget the service part. and as a result everything we did was about getting people involved making them feel valued making them feel a part of the process. >> bell said change was needed in ferguson after brown's death and the violence that followed. >>> chicago's rahm emanuel will get a second term. he defeated chewey garcia, emanuel carried nearly 56% of the vote. now to a special report on our fragile planet. tonight, male sea lions unable to find food in california heading north in larger numbers than expected. many are worried they could spell trouble. allen schauffler is in astoria oregon with more. allen. >> john, remarkable scene here on the docks. i just did an informal count. i counted 650 or so sea lions on this mooring basin in astoria, there are probably a couple hundred more in the breakwater on the lower columbia. the numbers biologists just say they've

wesley bell and ella jones will hold seats on the council.ones becomes the first black woman to win that position. ferguson is 70% black but was governed by a board in which five of sick members along with the mayor were white. >>> a federal judge in florida has tossed out bombshell allegations britain's prince andrew had sex with minors. prominent american lawyer alan dershowitz was also named in the federal court filing as one of the people who used the help of billionaire jeffrey epstein to have sex with teenage girls. both men had issued vehement denials. the judge ordered tuesday that the allegations be removed from the court record. >>> alan dershowitz joins us from new york to talk about this. alan, you had firmly denied these charge and suffered, you know, dodge your reputation as a result of this being so widely reported. with the specific allegations being thrown out, do you feel fully vindicated? >> reporter: i feel fully vindicated legally. it's as if the charges had never been brought now. the judge struck them all and said they

joining me now to talk about this one of the newly elected officials joining me now, wesley bell a professortrate and now one of two new african-americans elected to the ferguson city council. i want to congratulate you on your win and before we talk about ferguson i want to ask you about south carolina. certainly you have seen this video out of north charleston. give us your reaction to that. >> i was sickened. i actually saw the video this morning. i had first read the accounts and that was heartbreaking enough. then to actually see it you know because it was, like i said, it was sickening. >> was there anything about it that expressed that into some of the frustration you had already seen in your own community? >> i don't want to condemn all officers for the actions of a few. what i saw on that video, that appeared to just be murder. you know if there's aggravating circumstances, obviously the law takes those into consideration, particularly with the use -- with the use of force, but what i saw on the video, that was not justified by any stretch of the imagination. >> yeah. and maybe you

. >> my name is wesley bell. i'm running for city council. >> reporter: he is part of a sea change in ferguson. the first large group of african-americans running for city government. >> i'm running for city council. >> reporter: a council that's traditionally been white, just like the police department. while the city is mostly black. this election, three of the council's six seats are vacant and for the first time in its history, ferguson could see half of its city represented by african-americans. >> you got to fold up or show up. and if you're going to be a part of the solution you got to put your foot out there and do it. right now we are in war threed in ferguson where the tragedy considered. >> reporter: less than a mile away from where a ferguson police officer shot michael brown. >> if you're not in office, you're limited in what you can do and i felt helpless. >> reporter: so did adrian hawkins. >> i watched the buildings burn from my house. >> reporter: she has no political past but her life is thick w

. >> my name is wesley bale, i'm running for city council -- >> reporter: wesley bell part of a seachange ferguson. the first large group of african-americans running for city government. >> i'm running for city council. >> reporter: a council that's traditionally been white. just like the police department. while the city is mostly black. this election, three seats are vacant. for the first time in its history, ferguson could see half its government represented by african-americans. >> you've got to fold up or show up. if you're going to be a part of the solution, you got to put your foot out and do it. right now we're n war -- we're in ward three in ferguson. this is the ward where the tragedy occurred. >> reporter: the tragedy less than a mile away where a ferguson police officer shot michael brown. >> if you're not in office, you're limited in what you can do. i felt helpless. >> reporter: so did adrienne hawkins. >> i felt the buildings burning from my house. >> reporter: she has no political past, but her resume is thick with a life lived in ferguson and as a single working mother t

joining me now is newly elected ferguson city council member, wesley bell.ions to you, sir. >> thank you very much. >> glad you're part of a team now. you won the election of ward 3, that's the area where michael brown was killed. you got an impressive two-thirds of the vote there. how do you hope your election can effect change and specifically when you think about change what's top of your agenda? >> we ran a campaign that was based on community engagement and getting people involved bringing people together and so i'm proud of the fact that we had such a large turnout. it was indicative of that work. keep in mind having said that we know that our work's not done. so we're not patting ourselves on the back. we still have a lot of work to do. but we have something to build on. and so we're ready to get to work. >> when you look at the situation playing out in north charleston, south carolina, right now, the disparity between the number of african-americans and the police force, how significant is that and can that change? >> it's important to understand tha

tuesday night ella jones and wesley bell were elected with record voter turnout of nearly 30% in an areat usually sees about 12% of registered voters go to the polls. until now, duane james was the only african-american member of the city council even though ferguson is about 60% black. amy: when michael brown was killed last august, ferguson's mayor the police chief, the city , manager and the municipal judge were all white. since the shooting, all but the mayor have resigned. the newly elected city council members will be charged with hiring their replacements. well for more we go to st. louis where we're joined for an update by patricia bynes, democratic committeewoman of ferguson township. she helped register residents and get out the vote, and served as a campaign manager for two of the candidates who ran. welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about the significance of this victory? patricia: good morning. thank you. there has been an incredible win on behalf of the community and for the candidates. for the very first time, there is an african american woman sitting on the cit

. >> now with wesley bell and jones, the city council's racial makeup flipped from five white members and one african-american to three white and three black members. >> we want people in leadership that's going to do right by the people. lack of diversity among city leaders drew criticism following the shooting of unarmed teenager michael brown last summer. a department of justice investigation recently revealed systemic racial discrimination by the ferguson police department and municipal court system. some residents say those root issues sparked the eruption of emotion that led to weeks of violent protests and looting. leaving painful reminders of the past and businesses that just haven't recovered. >> what are your hopes for this new city council? >> well for a change pretty much. i hope this just can bring ferguson back together. >> one thing is certain, the future of ferguson is still in question as the group of newly elected council members say economic development their priority. especially in the canfield green neighborhood where michael brown lost his life residents are coun