stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: a new political storm is breaking in baghdad. efforts to form a government ran into strong opposition today from the sitting prime minister and that in turn, prompted new warnings from washington. it all followed an announcement that raised hopes for change. after months of political deadlock in iraq, a potential breakthrough today. the new president fouad massoum, a kurd, tapped deputy parliament speaker haider al-abadi, a shiite, to form a government and become prime minister. abadi, who belongs to the same party as current prime minister nouri al-maliki, quickly called for unity against a sunni insurgency led by the islamic state group. >> ( translated ): i have confidence that, with the people and political blocs, we would be able to overcome this barbaric and savage attack on the iraqi people and provide a good environment for the iraqi people to live in. >> ifill: but al-maliki has spurned calls from the u.s. and other shiites to step aside in favor of a less-polarizing figure. today, he deployed loyal security forces across baghdad. and he insisted he is the only legal choice for prime minister because his bloc won a plurality in the april election. >> ( translated ): we assure iraqi people and political groups this is agianst the constitution. >> ifill: vice president joe biden made clear where u.s. sentiments lie, congratulating abadi in a phone call, and president obama took a break from his vacation to add his support as well. >> ifill: the political turmoil came amid a new american effort to stem the islamic state's surge in northern iraq. senior u.s. officials said today the obama administration in concert with the central baghdad government is now directly providing weapons to kurdish peshmerga forces. who retook two towns near irbil on sunday. meanwhile, u.s. air strikes continued through the weekend. speaking at the pentagon today, lt. gen. william mayville cautioned the campaign, so far, is limited. >> i think in the immediate areas where we have focused our strengths we've had a very temporary effect and we may have i, in no way want to suggest that we have effectively contained or that we are somehow breaking the momentum of the threat posed by isil. >> ifill: the administration also announced it's sending a disaster response team to iraq to distribute humanitarian aid. much of it will go to thousands of yazidis who've fled to the top of sinjar mountain to escape the militants. already, the u.s. and britain have air-dropped thousands of gallons of water and hundreds of meals to the refugees. we'll get the state department's perspective on all of this, right after the news summary. >> woodruff: israeli and palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks in egypt today, as a new 72-hour cease-fire began. at the same time, israel called for an international effort to provide relief to gaza. it would be conditioned on the palestinian authority resuming control of gaza something hamas is likely to reject. >> ifill: turkey's president- elect recep tayyip erdogan began working today on the next phase of consolidating power. on sunday, the three-term prime minister won turkey's first direct presidential election. now, he needs a stronger majority in parliament to convert the presidency from a ceremonial post. last night, in a victory speech, erdogan struck a conciliatory tone toward his critics. >> ( translated ): brothers, i say this from the heart. let's start a new social reconciliation period today and let's leave the old discussions in the old turkey. let's leave tensions, culture of clashes and virtual problems in old turkey. >> ifill: erdogan's critics have charged he's become increasingly autocratic and transformed turkey from a secular state to an increasingly religious state. >> woodruff: the russian government announced today it's sending a humanitarian aid convoy into ukraine. the convoy would travel in cooperation with the international red cross. ukrainian president petro poroshenko announced he's agreed to the plan, after speaking with president obama. meanwhile, nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen warned there's a high probability that the russians actually plan military action. >> we see the russians developing the narrative and pretext for such an operation under the guise of a humanitarian operation and we see a military buildup that could be used to conduct such illegal military operations in ukraine. >> woodruff: ukrainian officials claimed russia has amassed even more troops on the border some 45,000. meanwhile, rockets slammed into a high-security prison in the rebel-held city of donetsk, letting more than 100 prisoners escape. at the same time, ukraine's military declared it's in the final stages of retaking the city. >> ifill: amnesty international is charging the u.s. military has not pursued troops who tortured or killed civilians in afghanistan. >> in numerous cases in which there is credible evidence of unlawful killings of civilians, the military has failed to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations. the pentagon denied ignoring civilian casualties. >> woodruff: nigeria now has ten confirmed cases of ebola. the announcement today said two patients have died. all had been in contact with a liberian who brought the virus in on a plane in late july. meanwhile, in charlotte, north carolina, three missionaries have returned from west africa after working with ebola patients. they're healthy, but will stay quarantined for at least three weeks as a precaution. >> ifill: on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained 16 points to close just short of 16,570; the nasdaq rose 30 points to close at 4,401; and the s&p 500 added 5, to finish near 1,937. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour. political turmoil roils baghdad after iraq's president names a new prime minister. the president of somalia on democracy-building, al-shabaab, and more. plus, racial unrest after police kill an unarmed teen in missouri. and, why more media companies are ditching their newspaper operations. >> ifill: we return now to the situation in iraq. brett mcgurk is the deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs where he focuses on iraq. thar for joining us, mr. deputy assistant secretary. what role did the united states have enforcing maliki's hands? there are reports that you personally may have had a role in that? >> i can assure you, gwen, that those reports are not true. in 2010 i think we were, it was said that we somehow maneuvered maliki into power. now it's said we're somehow maneuvering him out of power. the political dynamics in iraq have really their own dynamic which the iraqis sort through very much on their own. we do play a very active facilitating role between all the political blocs. we encourage them as does the united nations and other partners in baghdad to try to keep to the constitutional time line, keep things moving forward. because this is an extraorderly complex and difficult situation, particularly on the security side but also on the political side. it's very complicated and we serve as neutral brokers when useful. when we can provide an idea to bridge two different ideas and proposals we certainly do that. but it's not our job to pick who should be in power or who should not be in no we are. >> ifill: in your role as a neutral brokers are persuaded that mr. abadi is going to be what the u.s. or any other person in the region, any other country in the region needs now for iraq to get back on its feet? >> well, he's someone we've known for some time. we've known all these leaders for some time. we have have deep relationships with the host of iraqi leaders on all sides. i think it's important to focus on where we are in this process. the first as the president just said in his statement, the first step was to choose a speaker of the parliament and that happened about a month ago. and that set a 15 daytime line for naming the president of the state. and that took place on time. and that set a new time line for naming the prime minister. and that happened today. the prime minister designate abadi now has 30 days to present a new cabinet and present a national particle to the-- program to the parliament and the parliament has to ratify that program and if they do abadi will lead a full four-year term government. but what happens today is abadi was named the president designatement we have obviously embraced that decision because it is a critical milestone in the process of forming a new government and the iraqis have been working hard at this and now the next step, over the coming day, he will begin the process of pulling together coalition partners and forming a new government. we want that government to be broad-based inclusive, and to develop a national program that can harness the resources of the state to pull the country together over the next four years. if they do so, we'll be a very willing partner. >> ifill: that's the political part of this equation. there is also a military part. we have heard of new air strikes today. the kurds are hoping that you expand those air strikes. can you imagine that being able to happen? that is, the u.s. stepping up its military action in the-- in iraq if maliki were to continue what he's doing now, which is trying to hold on to power. can you imagine doing this with him there? >> well, gwen, on the security side we're focused on u.s. action we are two missions, one is around sinjar mountain to break the siege and that is why we are doing air strikes there over the last four or five days including another series of air strikes conducted today from isis locations near the mountain who are threatening the civilian population that is under siege on that mountain. and secondly we're committed to protecting the regional capitol of irbil. and we have done a number of air strikes to make sure isis forces cannot encroach on irbil. and those strikes have also been quite successful. south of the kurdishstan region we are focused with the iraqis, we have a joint operation center in baghdad which we sed up in june, and we are working hard coordinating how they might push back against isis, working with their iraqi air force in terms of how they can do targeting. >> ifill: but if i could interrupt you for a moment. i guess my question is whether all that would still go on if maliki stays in power? >> well, gwen, i don't want to get ahead of the process. we just had a news premier designate. he has 30 days to form a new government. we're going to continue. the prime minister maliki is still the prime minister of the state and we're going continue working closely with him over the next 30 days, obviously. and we'll be working with all the leaders to pull together a new government. so there is multiple strands here that we have to do-- we have to kind of pull all in at once. it's a very complicated situation, obviously. but we're focused on the isis threat from north to south. we are particularly focused on baghdad, on anbar pro since. and in each front there are different dynamics and elements. but we're not going to slow down any of our support. but the president has said and repeated again tonight, in the context of a new and inclusive government, we will be in a very active conversation with the leadership about what they need and we will be prepared to come behind them if they have a plan to pull the country together and unite the country against this very serious threat. >> ifill: deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs brett mcgurk-- brett mcgurk, thank you for joining us. >> ifill: for more, we turn now to zalmay khalilzad. he was u.s. ambassador to iraq during the george w. bush administration. he now has his own consulting firm. and laith kubba is senior director for the middle east and north africa at the national endowment for democracy. what can you tell us about al-abadi. >> i know mr. al abadi. he was a member of parliament when i was in baghdad. he has very distinguished background. he was from baghdadi family, a very well-known family. he's a member of the party that mr. maliki alsoes with a member of. he spent a lot of time in the united kingdom, got a ph.d there. so he knows the west and maybe more open to alternative ideas. he's got a big and difficult task ahead, not only dealing with the challenge of mr. maliki, but also to bring iraqis, shi'a, sunni, kurds together, form a government. and it's very difficult and challenging time. >> ifill: laith kubba, what can he accomplish that nouri al-maliki could not or cannot? >> well, number one, he is less threatening now to all other political blocs. they see him as less threatening. >> ifill: even though he's from the same party. >> he's from the same party but the party has been fragmented now a little bit. and maliki has disowned him, in a way. so that might play to his advantage. he has a weaker hand. but on the other hand, i think he is going to-- he's in a better position to negotiate with others. >> ifill: as we just heard at the state department, at least for the next 30 days technically maliki is to the going anywhere. he says that this is all legally worthless. that he is still in power. can this move forward as long as he continues to hold on? >> i think there is a potential for serious problems. but the more likely scenario in my view is that during the 30 days, some sort of a deal will be worked out where some of the concerns that mr. maliki may have about his own future might be addressed whether it has to do with a possible position. whether it has to do with some form of immunity, protection. i would-- i think while the risks of confrontation and perhaps the use of the military are and security forces is there and i think the president's message today was loud and clear in support of mr. al-abadi without mentioning maliki, but the message actually were for mr. maliki. and i suspect that a lot of maneuvering going on in baghdad and will intensify to work out something between the two. >> ifill: do agree that this is just a deal waiting to be cut? >> i'm a bit cautious. i think maliki surprised everybody in the way he's been indifferent to the whole world around him. and so fixated on power. i think the fact that the country is falling apart, territory under isis, baghdad itself is under threat yet maliki is not thinking of the country. and he's not thinking that the whole world has endorsed mr. abadi, and that all political blocs want to work with him. he's indifferent to all that and insisting to play hard politics. to me that is worrying. he has encouraged some militias to go out in the streets. with that mind-set i think everybody is taken by surprise and worry, would he push it to the end? >> let's assume for a moment that a deal can be cut, something can be agreed on. if not in the near future than in the eventual future. and mr. abadi takes over. what can he do to form a workable government in a countries that's falling apart, mr. ambassador? >> well, he will have to come to an agreement with the kurds, which will be tough for him because the kurds are demanding even more autonomy than they have, in their current circumstances. they want essentially to replace the federal system to a essentially to be sovereign. but in some former association with baghdad so that they can control their own oil exports, they can get weapons for their own forces. they can control their own airspace. so it's a tough one to do without losing ground internally for him. and with the sunnis, similarly, he will have to agree to a devolution of authority away from the center to the provinces. the sunnis want a region like kurdistan of their own or several regions, again to have their own forces for local security and to bring them, its sunnis and kurds together with them, given the demands, it is going to be a tall order, a difficult challenge for him, and then to mobilize everybody against isis which is knocking at the door. he's going to have one of the world's toughest jobs. >> ifill: it sounds like it, how do you see it work laith kubba. >> it is a tall order and it's very tough. i think in addition to trying to contain the demand, the increasing demands, i think he needs to reach out to iraq's neighbors. i think maliki has spoiled relationships with all of iraq's neighbors. and he needs to reach to all of them to say a new beginning. he needs their help, not only in containing isis, but also in building a new momentum in the country. i think the endorsement he has would give him a good start. he also needs to form a cabinet that would function and deliver some services to the country. not simply to appease political blocs. i think iraqis want to see some different out of their electoral processes. they vote every time and the system is not getting any better. and the security front, it's most challenging. i think that one is a head-on. he needs to work with the army, with nearly everybody in order to insurance security is delivered and iraq gives back some order. >> one ferted things we've been hearing is that the u.s. in collaboration with baghdad government, who ever that is these days have agreed to arm the kurds. is that helpful is this or is that also a potential wedge? >> i think that's helpful because it came in the context of a very urgent situation with the move of isis into kurdistan coming very close to irbil and very devastating action against yazidis and christians and others. so this was based on an agreement with baghdad. although i think we also are starting out a bilateral agreement with the kurds. >> ifill: let me ask laith kubba briefly. >> the con fix as said earlier, the kurds are pushing for a federal state t becomes a highly charged issue. because if they have the weapons, then that would create a de facto state. and will complicate things. i think the only way to contain the kurdish issue is through negotiations, not through entrenched armed positions. >> ifill: we'll be watching for all of that laith kubba and zal nay khalilzad, thank you both very much. >> good to be with you. >> woodruff: tonight, we take a look at the east african nation of somalia. the country has been plagued by war, corruption, and terrorism but its leader says he wants to change its course. in september 2012, hassan sheikh mohamud was sworn in as somalia's new president in a bid to end decades of chaos, violence and poverty. after years without a central government, a new parliament elected the community activist and academic. >> ( translated ): i congratulate all the somali people wherever they are and i can say that we have now come back from the long days of suffering and our feet are headed in the right path. >> woodruff: somalia had suffered long years of fighting. seen a failed u.n. and u.s. mission in the early '90's the days of "black hawk down," then, rampant piracy and the rise of al-shabaab militants. but within months of mohamud's government taking power, secretary of state hillary clinton announced the u.s. would recognize somalia for the first time since 1991. >> we have moved into an era where we're going to be a good partner, a steadfast partner, to somalia as somalia makes the decisions for its own future. >> woodruff: today, security still looms large over that future. soldiers from the african union mission in somalia, or amisom, patrol much the country. and the u.s. military has been training troops to help fight al-shabaab. the militants no longer control the capital, mogadishu, and other cities, but they've stepped up attacks. including a recent assault on the parliament building. last week, at the u.s. africa leaders summit in washington, president mohamud blamed the militants for holding back somalia. in turn, opponents accuse mohamud of corruption. this weekend, the president drew protesters as well as greeters in minnesota, where he traveled to meet members of the largest somali population in the united states. i sat down with him on friday ahead of that trip. president mohamud thank you for talking with us. >> thank you judy. >> woodruff: so, as you prepare to leave washington, have you found this week's meetings to be helpful, useful to you? >> it was very useful. the meeting was meant for the african continent of course and we learned a lot and there was new injections from the united state government to push the economy and the life of the people of africa. we are very much grateful for the level of support that has been showed to us and we already have moved and progressed in our cooperation between the united states government and somalia. >> woodruff: how much aid would you say the united states is giving to somalia and how wouldx you describe the relationship between the two countries? >> it's only last year when the transition was ended in somalia and the united states government recognized somali government as a legitimate state to deal with. and then we started our cooperation, we signed a number of cooperation agreements and still we are at the beginning but we moving in a very good pace and direction. >> woodruff: let me ask you about something that i know is of great concern to you. i assume you talked to the united states government about it and that is the militant, islamist group al-shabaab. they have wreaked death and destruction in your country for a long time. they've just last week they murdered a legislator in mogadishu, they've tried to assassinate you. you've said that you believe your government will defeat them, but how long would that take? how difficult a task are we talking about? >> within the next few months there might not be a territory controlled by shabaab in somalia. but that's not the end of war as you said. they melt down into the society and this has suicide bombings and target assassinations will continue sometime but we strongly believe that it will end up soon. >> woodruff: do they try to infiltrate your inner circle? >> they do try everywhere. they do try to infiltrate into security institutions. they do try to infiltrate into the politician, politics. if not the politicians the staff that work with the politicians. >> woodruff: do you fear for your own safety? i was elected on september 10th 2012 september 14th i was attacked long before i went into the state house. so since then they keep trying, they've attempted a number of times to get into the state house but there were a number of times where they made attempts in my life when i was moving but the security forces are aborted all there and i have confidence in my security staff. they give me enough possibility to move around in and throughout somalia. i'm not worried much. you brought up piracy, this is another terrible scourge for a while it was around the horn of africa ships coming around were frequently attacked by pirates from somalia, it does seem to have slowed down do you have that behind you now? >> so now this is partly this is addressed, international partners have made a strong military presence in the seas and they pushed back the pirates and the somali community leaders and elders also take a campaign of awareness raising among the young people to combat. but the issue is, the root causes are not fully addressed, so the challenges still exist and the government is struggling with addressing those issues with the support of international partners. >> woodruff: there have been serious concerns raised by the us government and others over whether your government has achieved, since you came into office, sufficient stability, transparency, whether corruption has been dealt with. whether you're on track to have a government of national unity, that you don't just represent a part of the country. what do you say to those who ask that? >> imagine a country that has been without a functioning state over two decades, we have an office now for two years. the problem that existed in more than two decades won't be solved overnight, but we put in place all the necessary foundations to have a very democratic and distinct institutions that serve the interests of all somalis. for the first time in 45 years somalis will be able to experience elections in 2016. that's the plan for this government to make elections happen in 2016 and you know when the last time somalis went to the polls? that was 1969, 45 years ago. >> woodruff: the news media, i understand from reading that there is one at least one leading independent group in somalia which had been honored internationally. the name of it was shabelle media. it was ordered to shut down, close down its offices. how do you answer this? and does your country have a free media? how free is the media in somalia? >> there are number of times when shabaab infiltration has been suspected in different organizations. not only the media, government offices, agencies, ministries. and this security people they go after that. if there is a suspect in a media house, it's not immune from that type of thing. what we know is that 90% of the shabaab operations and the shabaab operations are on the media not in the field. >> woodruff: 90%? they've been given some of our media, i won't say all of them. some of our media they might not be, the capability and the capacity is very limited to understand between the neutrality and what to be and what not to be. >> woodruff: last question. what do you want americans to know about somalia that they may not know? >> what we want to know the americans, somalia is not the somalia of 1970 and 1980's today and even 1990's. somalia is a different now just coming on the corner of we have on the road to democratic institutions to be put in place. we say the united states come to somalia, help us to invest in the future so that no more shabaab no more terrorists and no more piracy in somalia. >> woodruff: president mohamud we thank you very much for talking with us. >> thank you judy. thank you very much. >> ifill: now to a police shooting of a missouri teenager that sparked racial tension, violence and looting in a st. louis suburb over the weekend. jeffrey brown has the story. >> reporter: it was all set in motion saturday when 18-year-old michael brown was shot repeatedly by a police officer in the st. louis suburb of ferguson, missouri. brown was unarmed and witnesses maintained he was an innocent victim. >> he was running and then he turned around and put his arms up. he just stopped, put his hands up after he had gotten shot repeatedly. >> reporter: the chief of police of st. louis county, who's leading the investigation, said the incident began with a scuffle. >> it is our understanding at this point in the investigation that within the police car there was a struggle over the officer's weapon. there was at least one shot fired within the car. >> reporter: the officer was placed on administrative leave. his identity and race were not released. but the killing sparked outrage and protests yesterday afternoon. and demonstrations continued into the night. then came the candlelight vigil that began peacefully, but turned violent. the mayor said a small group caused the trouble. 32 people were arrested. charlie dooley is the county's executive. >> we're on top of this situation. we understand their frustration. we understand their concern. we are asking all of the public be calm, be patient and be prayerful. >> reporter: another vigil and protest march were held today. >> i just wish i could have helped him. he did not deserve it. >> reporter: and, the f.b.i. confirmed it is reviewing the shooting for possible civil rights violations. it's the latest such case since the fatal shooting of trayvon martin in 2012 by a neighborhood watch member in florida. last month, in new york city, another black man, eric garner, died after being put in a chokehold by police, according to a medical examiner. and in los angeles, onlookers videotaped marlene pinnock as she was beaten by a california highway patrol officer. we get reaction now, from sherrilyn ifill, president of the naacp's legal defense fund. and greg meyer, a former captain for the los angeles police department, who's written on and testified in use-of-force cases around the country. let me start with you, it's still early in this investigation. what dow think are the most important facts to learn and who is best to determine them? >> well, i think would be terrific if we learned the name of the officer and something a his record on the force. obviously the eye witness accounts and they are conflicting eye witness accounts between residents of the community who say they observed what happened, and what we are hearing from the police department. we don't know the name of the officer or anything about him. i think we're entitled to know that. he is a public servant. and so we're going to know what happened during that encounter between mike wood and the police. frankly, the account that we've heard about this struggle for the gun is all too familiar. and frankly t raises a lot of questions. and so we need an investigation to happen. i'm pleased that the fbi has joined, not taken over, it's a concurrent investigation but we need an investigation to happen quickly. and we need answers quickly. we are still waiting for charge notice eric garner case. and i think these are the kinds of things that are creating frustration in communities across the country. >> let me ask greg my frere a police perspective when you have these kinds of questions over use of deadly force, what has to come out? what are the important facts that you want to see brought out? >> well, first of all, the investigations tend not to happen quickly. they tend to be very thorough and they take some time. what has to happen here is a realization that this officer was in this situation. you're going to get that officer's statement. you're going to get witness statements. i'm not aware that there is any video or audio evidence in this case. if there is, all of that would be part of what's analyzed too. ultimately the system will decide through policy, review, training review and legal review, was this officer's actions reasonable under the constitution of the united states. we're to the going to know for some time how to evaluate that and i would just add briefly, about 10% of all officers that are murdered in this country each year in modern times are murdered with their own handgun. that's down from 20% a generation ago. so i think we're getting better at retaining our weapons. but the struggle over the gun is a big question in this case. it will have to be answered. >> sherrilyn ifill, you can respond to that and i want you to pick up on where you ended. we saw the strong response in the community and nationwide. tell us where that's coming from. >> well, i think there is a local response that has to do with the relationship between the african-american community and the constablory in ferguson which i think bears some investigation as well. if you look at the statistics involving arrests and so forth in that town by their police department, african-americans are the subject of 90% of the stops, whether in vehicles, whether on the street, whether on local roads, whether on the highway. and interestingly, however, the greatest amount of contraband that's found happens with stops of white residents. so i think there may be a local story that needs to come out. but there's also a national story. you just eluded to several of the incidents. i talked about eric garner. we know that a man was killed in the wal-mart in ohio last week by police officers, who was unarmed. we saw the disgusting video of a woman being brutally beaten on a highway by a california police officer. and that's just in the last few months. these incident goes back decades. we could rattle off names and use up the entire newshour doing soph cases of police involved attacks, shootings, assaults on unarmed african-americans. and so i think the larger issue is about the way in which the police force in cities all over this country engage with unarmed, nonviolent african-americans. the perception of criminality when african-americans are seen and the often violent and disproportionately violent response of police officers who are trained and should be trained public servants. trained in diffusing situations. the gun should be the last resort. and too often we see it as the first resort. >> let me ask greg myer, do you sense the police forces around the country see cases like this as part of a systemic problem and to what extent are they responding to it, and retraining to respond? >> well, i think every incident is different whether it's an african-american person involved or not. there is more and more training going on, and more and more training programs being developed on, for example, how to handle mentally ill people. there's more and more court oversight. i know in the 9th circuit in the western united states the federal 9th circuit court of appeals has issued at least one opinion where they're looking not just at the moment that force was used as was what was traditionally looked at. but also what's leading up to it. what tactics are the officers engaging in before they go in and use force on someone. so it's an evolving issue. we're going to see more and more videos. i mean police officers have videos on their bodies in many cities. now that's only going to increase in addition to all the other videos that we know are out there. >> just very briefly in the last minute, mr. myer, do you sense, though t that police forces understand the and their this quickly arouses in communities around the country? >> oh, sure, especially in the big places, new york, los angeles, other big cities. these things happen with more frequency than they do in the smaller jurisdictions for sure. so the police officers get some experience one standing the frustration that's out there the anger that's out there. videos, especially, drive people emotionally. and we're a nation of law, not emotion. >> and sherrilyn ifill n 20 seconds please, a last word. >> dead children actually drive people emotionally even more than videos. people who are unarmed, watching a man be choked to death on nationwide television who clearly is unarmed. those things actually arouse, and appropriately arouse emotion and they shouldn't arouse the emotion just of african-americans but every american, we are a nation of laws and we want police officers to be accountable to the law just as the citizenry should be as well. >> absolutely. >> sherrilyn ifill and greg meyer, thank you both very much. >> woodruff: we'll be back with a look at more tough headlines for the newspaper industry. but first, it's pledge week on pbs. this break allows your public television station to ask for your support. and that support helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> ifill: for those stations not taking a pledge break, we take a second look now at a small southwestern city on the frontlines of the immigration crisis. special correspondent kathleen mccleery reports. >> the hot, dry, dusty touch artesia sits about 70 miles north of the mexico border in southeastern, new mexico. it's rich in oil & gas and home to ranchers and farmland. most people in this red part of a blue state are conservative. phillip burch has been its mayor for 7 years. >> by and large the community would prefer this installation not be here. because we view the law enforcement training center as a place to train law enforcement people. and we just don't feel that it is appropriate to have it change to a detention center. >> reporter: the federal law enforcement training center is run by the department of homeland security. in no small irony it trains border patrol agents as the mayor said. now the federal government has converted three former barracks to house 672 mothers an children under age 17. 8 foot fences keep them hidden from the people of artesia. the women and children come from central america's northern triangle, guatemala, honduras and el salvadore. they crossed from mexico into texas, were captured by the border patrol and bused here. officials say most of them will be sent home. homeland security officials took reporters on a supervised tour of some unoccupied rooms. this facility is spanking clean, air conditioned and comfortably equipped. and will help relieve the overcrowding at the border. four budget beds with new linens line the walls of bedrooms. there are flat screen televisions, play rooms stocked with toys and clinics with medical equipment. residents get louse keeping, laundry services, new clothing and three meals a day. federal authorities won't say how much money has been spent or how many staff they've hired here. outside a local pub in town long time resident joann griggs questions the federal spending. >> we're giving it away to people that are not even citizens of the united states, mainly. we are supporting them we're feeding them, we're boarding them, we're probably going to doctor them and probably educate them. and it's our tax dollars that's doing it. and it really up sets me. >> reporter: not car wash for a high school fast pitch softball team. there's becky perez has similar thoughts. >> i'm like take care of our own before we go and you know, help the illegal immigrants. >> reporter: not everyone in town held that view. the immigrants are fleeing gang violence, drug lords and poverty, creating a human rights issue that americans should pay for said pamela nordstrom at the java house coffee shop. >> i don't think we can afford not to. we have them here. we can't just not take care of them. that's inhumane. we provide for lost animals. i mean we have to at least provide the basics. >> reporter: some in artesia think the comfortable living quarters may actually encourage those deported to venture back. but mayor burch believes at mints won't mask the government's message, don't come back. >> they are probably sleeping in the best bed they've ever slept in. and these are just blane budget beds. they are probably eating the best or the most nutritious food they've ever eaten. so from that standpoint, you could say yeah, they'll go home and they'll come back to be in the artesia hilton. well, they're going to be sent home. and the message they're going to be sent home with is don't go, because you're going to be deported. >> unlike murrieta, california, where jeering crowds of protestors turned back buses of undualed immigrants headed for a processing center, here the reaction has been more muted. 400 people showed up at a town hall, many voiced concerns about health problems and other issues. at the local wal-mart tita harris said her worry is the safety of her community. >> this is the thing. they keep saying that they will keep them in that compound. but they escaped their country. this is not going cope them in if they want to get out. i mean to me that's common sense. >> for the first quarter of the year here in artesia, over 70% of our crime is graffiti. >> violent crime isn't common in this small town said police chief don raley and is not worried about escapees it from the detention center. mommas don't leave babies and babies don't want to be leave their mamas. because of the nation of the populationed es kate concern is less than if we had a mixed population. >> here there is compassion, especially for the children. artesia's population is half hispanic. many are immigrants themselves. tony estrada thinks the center is a good thing. >> i think it's okay because i think that everybody deserves a chance. well, you know, and it's like everybody says, we're doing for the children. they're the ones getting hurt, you know. >> many in the town of 11,000 have tried to help. hailey klein is executive director of the chamber of commerce. >> i have been surprised. we tend to take care of our own in this community but they have, there has been a very strong outpouring of concern for the innocent victims. >> donations have poured in, and piled up at the chamber's office. >> folks have tried to donate all kinds of things from formula to diapers. but really what they are accepting are clothes for women and children, toys, art supplies, coloring books, crayons and books, reading books, preferly in sparn. those are the things that they will take. >> meanwhile the flood of immigrants continues it. officials expect more to be deported in the coming days and weeks, new busloads of immigrants to arrive here. >> since we first aired that report, the facility in artesia had a temporary lockdown due to two case of chicken position but deportations have resumed including a flight today. >> woodruff: finally, the latest turn in the evolving business of newspapers. after years of being one part of the media's broader strategy to grow and diversify companies now are shedding print altogether. gannett, which owns usa today and many other papers, became the latest to spin off its print operations last week. that, a day after the tribune company made a similar move. and days after e.w. scripps and journal communications announced similar plans as part of a merger. ken doctor covers media for his website "newsonomics" and column for the nieman journalism lab. welcome to the program. i have just named some of the spin-offs that have happened. why is this happening now? >> well, it's financial. it's wall street. if you look at what's happened with the newspaper industry, it's been really a long dissent. profits are down, workforces are down,-- products are thinner. and the broadcast industry is much healthier. so on wall street you want the healthy business, you don't want the distressed business, especially the newspaper business is being sequestered or separated out from these better broadcast assets. >> so this idea of having multiple platforms with television, with print and digital, that's just gone good-bye? >> it is kind of ironic now. because we heard from its diversified companies that synergy was very important. and of course on our smart phones and tablets we expect video from newspaper companies and stories from broadcast companies. and one idea here was multiplatform, multidevice. but now these companies are separate. so importantly, this is a financial move. it's not a strategic one. and may not really be in the best interests of the communities they serve or their leaders. >> i wanted to ask you about that in a minute. but to pin down the financial piece, what is it that wall street is looking for from these companies. >> so, if you look at gannett, for instance, gannett is the largest u.s. newspaper company. only 30% of all its annual revenues come from broadcast, but 60% of its profits come from broadcast. so those lines are diverging. the print operations keep on losing money year-over-year, no growth for gannett or the rest of the companies in essentially 7 years. so the idea is move those assets out of the way as rupert murdoch did with news corp. in the middle of last summer, and it works. wall street values the two separate companies more highly than the one company put together with newspaper and broadcast assets. >> and one of the divisions here is the division between publicly held media companies and those that are privately held like jeff bezos of amazon buying "the washington post". the private model seems to be doing better. >> well, a lot of this is-- "the washington post," john henrey in boston, another one in minneapolis they are all a-year-old, many of these splits are a-year-old so both things are happening at the same time. i do think the private model is going to be better because these companies, these newspaper companies still have another good three to five years to transition. and being in the public markets as a stand alone public company, quarter-by-quarter results is very tough. they may need to keep on cutting to maintain even small profits for their shareholders. >> so cutting how many. how many reporters are we talking about being cut? what is this doing to the journalism in the united states? >> it has been thinning for almost a decade now. so we've had 18,000 daily journalists lose their jobs, that's 30% of all the journalists working, about 1400 daily newspapers. and most of them are local in our country. and we see this. a lot of the losses are veteran reporters who really have a deeper knowledge of their communities but they're more expichbs. so not only are jobs being cut but hundreds of thousands of years of experience is being lost. it's hard to pinpoint because we don't know what we don't know. but it's unmistakable across the united states. >> and consumers of news aren't noticing, how do you see that? are they commenting on this? are they speaking up about it? >> they are seeing it, we're seeing some commenting. not that much because it's a slow phenomenon. and at the national level there's really a great no wering. and you can make the case we have more than we ever had. but we're a big country, 3,000 miles wide and we need these local newspapers people because they generate most of the news. the brightest spot has been reader revenue. all these-- walls we talk about and half the newspapers all have them. the problem is going forward how much people are willing to pay for a product that keeps getting smaller and is put out by the smaller workforce. that's the key problem going forward in the 2015. >> so just quickly you see that as the way they survive? >> that is the key one i say, you look at the "new york times" now, 62% of its revenue comes from readers. the other companies, it's about 30 to 40%. but readers are going to have to pay more but of course we want a better product. there are other things they're doing in terms of the advertising end, diversifying their businesses and these will help but they will take three to five years to really make a difference in the marketplace. >> and ro ken doctor newsonomics, we thank you. >> quite well come >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. an iraqi shiite leader was tapped to try to form a new government. president obama offered u.s. support, but the incumbent prime minister, nouri al-maliki, insisted the effort is unconstitutional. the liberian government announced tonight the u.s. will provide doses of an experimental drug to fight the ebola outbreak there. and israeli and palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks in egypt, as a new 72-hour cease-fire began. and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, the world health organization on the best and most ethical way to combat the ebola outbreak. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. the ones getting involved, staying engaged. they are not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic 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