Congress returns to capitol hill to tackle everything from funding the government to dealing with the immigration crisis. Lawmakers are trying to cram two years worth of work into the next two weeks. The white house is asking congress for 263 million. To help training for Police Following is unrest in ferguson. Not to solve every problem but to make things better. Syrian families made their final steps through a war that nearly killed them. As long as we are standing up saying we fight atrocities at some point youve got to make good. A new warning from the fbi. I. S. I. L. Is calling for attacks in the u. S. Against members of the military. This is the kind of thing we saw happen in canada. This is how many military base disposeof waste. The soldiers had toxic inhalation. This is this generations agent orange. He was the first to find out the great secret of africa. We begin with the fallout of ferguson. A week after the grand jury decided not to indict officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown, people in ferguson vented their anger at the commission tasked with ending long time divisions there. Dont waste our time with the same innuendos and the same rhetoric. This is an abuse of power problem period. Ferguson was also on the agenda at the White House Monday as president obama met with his cabinet and civil rights leaders to announce a new task force on policing. He called for more than 300 million in funding to expand Training Programs and provide body cameras for Police Officers. There have been commissions before, there have been task forces, there have been conversations but nothing happens. Part of the time this time its going to be different is the president of the United States is deeply invested in making sure that this time is different. Meanwhile the nfl said it will not punish the five st. Louis rams players who on sunday took the field with their hands up, a pose adopted by protesters across the country. But the st. Louis county Police Association called the display tasteless offensive and inflammatory. Jason johnson is a al jazeera contributor. Jason always good to have you with us. You just got back from ferguson and we just showed those very angry residents yelling at officials who were appointed to that commission in ferguson, trying to fix things there. From what you saw and the days you spent in missouri what needs to be done, so that town and really the country in general, gets on a better course . Well, there needs to be three simple things that need to happen sort of symbolically and practically up front. One, the local community in ferguson needs to recall the mayor. The mayor, mr. Knowles, is completely incompetent and has been horrible in managing the situation on the ground. And he can be recalled any point hes been in office for six months, which is october 15th. Symbolically you could have new leadership moving forward. Next, there probably needs to be a investigation of the prosecutor, mccullough. The most charitable description is prosecutorial ineptitude. , the governor needs to stay a much more active approach to not only managing the police on a local level but listening to suggestions that the department of justice has made about communication in general. Those things need to happen now for ferguson to begin any process of healing or moving forward. The mayor this weekend called for more black Police Officers on the ferguson force which is more than 90 white even though the town is more than 70 black. This is something we have known about for months now. Why last no action been taken and why are we still talking about it instead of moving forward on it . Because the mayors incompetent. He is a well meaning person, this is in no way disparaging him personally, but youre a mayor of 22,000 people, i was speaking to mayors around ferguson and many of them said to me they offered advice after Michael Brown was shot. They offered their local Police Forces but because ferguson is the biggest town the biggest city within that sort of larger School District he felt like he didnt have to listen to anybody. Im not surprised that hes already trying to close the door after the cows have already left because he is five steps behind this entire situation. The prosecutor, the case has become the powerful symbol of the serious and all too frequent situation, involving African Americans and other minorities. On the other hand, African Americans after seeing testimony presented and that grand jury, people like Charles Barkley and pharrell, talked about is this the best case to highlight that important issue . Charles barkley doesnt know what he is talking about. He should stick to basketball. And pharrell is an entertainer not a lawyer. This is the thing antonio that most of us even though are were not lawyers can basically understand about what happened. If you have got conflicting testimony then there should be an indictment because the only thing that really happens with an indictment is the grand jury says, theres enough ambiguity about what occurred in this situation that a trial is necessary to determine if there is any fault. So the fact that you had conflicting stories, the fact that we dont know what Darren Wilson exactly did and when, what we dont know how Michael Brown might or might not have hit him, thats all the more reason there actually should be an indictment. I think while you are going to have lots of different people having different opinions, the fact that there were different points necessitated the indictment. At least id rather not secondguess the grand jury but talk about the violence in ferguson. How much of it was generated by outsiders . Did you get a sense of that when you were there . On friday there was some violence, 16 people were arrested 16 were from out of town. Right. I can tell you this i was standing in front of the Police Department in ferguson on tuesday evening and there was a large crowd of protesters there with signs and megaphones. The police were on one side and many of us who were analysts and watching were in the pack. Two flares or fire crackers were thrown from the crowd at the police, the police did not leave. The protester with a megaphone said do not throw anything at the police. If we catch you we will turn you in ourselves. I saw three young men in the back of the crowd, their response was, then that makes you as bad as the police. I think there are clearly outsiders there who were instigating this. Exactly, exactly. Quubltion, presidenquickly, a asked for more money for body cameras and complete oversight. He is not banning the federal program that exists altogether. He said he didnt want police to build a militarized culture, isnt he a little late . Isnt what we saw in ferguson in august proof that that culture already exists . Yes, the military surplus that is going to police is not necessarily inherently wrong. The local police dont have to prove that they need that kind of equipment. I think the president missed an opportunity to say look, are if you are in a dangerous situation of course we want you to get military surplus. But you cant get armored tanks and swat machinery if the worst thing you are dealing with is a youngster with weed. The Ferguson Police were way too armed for the basic initial protests in august. Always good to have you with us. Thanks. Thanks antonio. As president obama met with cabinet officials and civil rights leaders about the ongoing fallout from events in ferguson, congress returned from its thanksgiving break. The lame duck session has only two weeks left but faces a jam packed to do list. The main issue, funding the government. We find ourselves ten days away from a potential government shutdown. After president obamas executive action on immigration. Were joined from santa barbara, california by jeff greenfield. Most recently he was the host of pbss need to know and his latest book is if kennedy lived the first and second terms of president john f. Kennedy an alternate history which is now out in paper back. And from los angeles, were joined by al jazeera Political Correspondent michael shore. Jeff ill start with you and get both of your takes on ferguson. Should the president be doing more to defuse tensions . Should he go to ferguson . You know, this whole story is so in a way depressing because we bring to it, whoever we are, a few hundred years of often very ugly history. To the point we are what actually happens in ferguson almost takes a back seat to the prism through which you view it however you view it. Im trying to imagine what the president could do that would genuinely make a difference as opposed to raising the flag of i care, im concerned, he might you know this could have been my son, which he said on the Trayvon Martin case. I just dont know whether or not anything he does breaks through all of the accumulated beliefs, assumptions, convictions, that different people bring to this. Thats an important point. And michael i also understand he doesnt want to interfere with an ongoing federal investigation. But again its what weve talked about so many times. He is the first black president. Should he somehow figure out a way to play a more significant role . Well, you know, heres the thing. The role that he can play is limited by the fact that he is in fact the president. You know barack obama is a lot of things to a lot of people. People that hes let down, people that are impressed with his presidency. But one thing he has not been able to do is take sort of the dialogue from a lot of these events and cause a National Conversation about it. And i think that with ferguson hes presented with that unit at any time. Going to ferguson doesnt necessarily do that. I think, you know, the attorney general has spoken previously about how ferguson and this federal case they have a very high bar to reach in order to bring federal charges there. Does the president going there somehow bring expectations to that community that are not realistic . He cant go there and promise anything. By starting this dialogue, by talking to people, by maybe changing up the people that hes talking to and with he has a better shot of reaching some of those voters that feel that we have to change the way policing happens in america. That doesnt lap with a trip to ferguson. That happens doing it differently, doing it from the oval office. But as jeff said theres a long history of this. Johnson wasnt on the bridge in selma the next day and i think theres a lot that we can learn by the way it was done then. This is different. There is a nebulous thing theyre trying to get out of this. Lets move on, lame duck session, in a category of not again, the House Republican leadership had sworn they wouldnt allow the government to be shut down again but theyre getting some serious pressure from their conservative wing to react forcefully to the president s executive action on immigration. What do you expect jeff . I expect them to stumble almost incoherently at times towards some resolution that does not shuttl shut down the government. But short of that if you are looking at the lame duck session to do something about whether its immigration or the tax code thats about to expire or anything else if i can talk in gambling terms antonio these days in washington and congress i always bet the under as opposed to the overon how much theyre going to employer Speaker Boehner has said in so many words, its not going to happen. I dont see how he cannot avoid that but boy, well well get into that in a minute or two. Anybody expecting oh this is the time for cooperation, good luck a cnn poll says the americans would blame the gop for shutdown, 53 to 33 . The battle for the past few years for the establishment times and the libertarians, are we also seeing a similar struggle inside the Democratic Party between those who are on the left and those who are more moderate michael . I think it is more natural, coming out of an election where you get absolutely drubbed, whether you were forceful enough, whether you were progressive enough, awhats going to happen is the progressives saying we are not forceful enough and the liberals, we look towards liberal and shore that up. You dont have a leadership issue there. So john boehner oops has got a really really hard job keeping this coalition together. His caucus is so varied. Mitch mcconnell will have some of the same. Its not important to what happens in washington. You mentioned the tax situation, theres a fight over extending tax breaks that would affect millions of businesses and individuals. The senate and how actually agreed to something but now the white house is threatening to veto it by saying it too heavily threatens corporation over families. You are talking about the overunder, is there any chance of a compromise there . Not living in washington but preferring the heart land of man manhattan and santa barbara, i cant speak to the mechanics of washington, but as people look and say there has to be cooperation, many republicans who came to washington in 2010, particularly, and again this year, are telling you, they did not come to compromise. Theyre not pretending. They are they are ideologically committed to im here to stop whats going on. The only advantage boehner has i guess is there are a few more House Republicans who got elected from bluer districts. There are nine i think republicans from new york state, which is more than theres been in about ten years or so. And they may have an interest in giving him a little more support if hes looking to compromise. But it cant be stressed enough that the intensity of those within the Republican Party who are sharply opposed to the whole idea of accommodation, and being called obstructionist, they have actually benefited, it will be hard to hold their hand, because in their view obama put a stick in their eye, thats why im pessimistic about any compromise idea. The republicans a party of no, less than 30 section left, michael are we in a situation that jeff just brought up with that Environmental ProtectionAgency Regulation that was issued on thanksgiving eve that the National ManufacturersAssociation Says is the costliest ever, that president obama had not wanted to pass when he was running for election, is the well getting poisoned more than ever before . How kit get more poisoned . How can it get more poisoned . I cant see how it can be any more poisoned but its certainly not clearing up any time soon. Jeff greenfield, michael shore, really a pleasure to have you. Thank you. And now for more stories from around the world. Beings we begin in washington, d. C, in a strong warning from the fbi and the department of homeland security, about possible i. S. I. L. Attacks against domestic military targets. The bulletin says the fbi recently received reporting indicating individuals overseas are spotting and assessing likeminded individuals who are willing and capable of conducting attacks against current and former u. S. Based members of the United States military. The bulletin urges members of the military to scrub their social media accounts of any information that could attract the attention of violent extremists. Officials are concern that i. S. I. L. Supporters in the u. S. May have been emboldened by two separate attacks on military personnel in canada last month. Next we move to qatar, where an american couple, matthew and grace huong had been accused of starving to death their nineyearold adopted auditor gloria, officials blocked them from leaving the country today. Secretary of state john kerry released a statement saying the huongs should be allowed to leave without delay. The huongs have two adopted children who currently live in california. We live in your gas tank where oil prices have flowngdz o a five year low. The russian ruble has fallen to a five year low. Now serious budget cuts and the Lower Oil Prices have raised fears of possible deflation in europe. Oil prices have dropped more than 34 in the past few months. And thats some of whats happening around the world. Coming up did the Defense Department risk the health of as many as 100,000 veterans and civilian contractors because of how it disposed of garbage . Our stunning investigation is next. Also, president obama facing criticism of his Foreign Policy from a former top staffer. Shell join United States. Us. What do you think . Join us ajconsiderthis and on our facebook page. More than 52,000 american soldiers have been wounded in action in iraq and afghanistan and veterans of those wars have filed close to a million disability claims with the Veterans Administration. Now the Supreme Court is considering whether a case should proceed involving claims of more than 100,000 veterans and civilian contractors have suffered from burned trash in pits. Sheila macvicar has the story. It was everyday black smoke came over us. This is how many u. S. Military paces across iraq and afghanistan disposed of waste. In massive openair burn pits. Which unleashed clouds of thick black and some veterans say, toxic smoke. During the daytime, it was solid black. You could smell it. Reporter Staff SergeantAnthony Thornton spent two years as a prison guard at camp buka in iraq. He said he was constantly exposed to poisonous fumes that lingered over his living quarters. It came over where we worked. The burn pit you would see anything from tires to paints to medical waste, old refrigerators and different stuff. There he goes. And they would