what could be a sign of progress in the rocky relationship between the u.s. and pakistan is happening right

now. president obama and the pakistan any prime, sharif are meeting this afternoon. it is said that between 2500 and 600 people have been killed by drone strikes. joining us now live from watertown, massachusetts is jim walsh, and jim, does pakistan have a legitimate beef with the u.s. over these strikes? >> certainly the prime minister coming to town has vocalized that. he has said we are concerned about it. why? because he faces political pressure at home. pakistanis see this that they can't even control their own territory, and are naturally concerned about the casualties.

cashmere and drones, i don't think either of those will be resolved in this meeting, and i think both parties, pakistan and the u.s. will focus on other issues. >> osama bin laden was hiding out in pakistan. he was the most wanted man in the world. pakistan was supposed to be our ally, and some say with friends like that who needs enemies. >> i hear ya. but there are a number of issues -- this is like a family member with whom you have a bad relationship. you are still in the family, but there are lots of grudges here. i think the president going into this meeting, his number one agenda item is going to be afghanistan, we're getting out of there. 2014 is coming quickly, and

pakistan has large share of influence on what happens in afghanistan. some of that has been to the detriment to the u.s. by the way, but we're getting out, and we need to figure out how that is going to work. >> in the past, absent such drone strikes, the war drums in washington would be beating, especially if the u.s. had credible information that for instance, osama bin laden was inside pakistan, so from the u.s. perspective is a lose-lose situation? >> this is one of those situations where both countries are mad at the other country. with respect to bin laden, i think you are right about that, and i don't think the u.s. could have trusted the pakistani military by letting them go do the work in advance. there is a good chance that bin

laden would have gotten early warning and would have pled the scene. but we are leaving afghanistan. we don't want the taliban to be resurgent. so even if we have a broken relationship right now with pakistan, we have to deal with the issues before us. and for pakistan it's not all security, it's much more the economy. their economy has been in a freefall. they barely have any foreign exchange at the end of the month. so they'll be looking for help with that. but the economy is what is really driving the visit, i think. >> jim, is this finally is this a case of me thinks you protests too much? >> yeah, i think that's a real great point, dell. absolutely that some of the statements you have seen prior to this meeting and statements after are aimed at a domestic

audience. both have domestic politics they have to deal with, and as i said, pakistan has generally a weak civilian government and a very poor economy. so there are some things you have to say before the cameras that you don't really carry into the meeting with you. >> jim thank you very much. >> thank you, dell. so we crunched the numbers. how does this compare to past years? right now you are looking at secretary of state john kerry he is moving from one european capitol to another. back on the drone strike situation he is now in roam meeting with israel east prime minister benjamin netenyahu.

the u.s. top of national intelligence says the report in the newspaper lamonde is simply wrong. it is based on leaks from former nsa contractor, edward snowden. five men charged in connection with the september 11th ter rits attacks are in a military case in a courtroom again today focusing on allegations they were mistreated while being held in those secret prisons. rosiland jordan has more. >> reporter: prosecutors are back in the military courtroom to talk about an issue, the matter of bringing into evidence classified information about the torture which the defendants claim they suffered between 2003 and 2006 while they were in the cia's custody. now the matter is this, there's an international treaty to which

the suhs a party, the un convention against torture. under that treaty, people who say they were tortured can bring legal claims to get relief. however, because this is a military commission, and because both sides have sworn to protect national security secrets, operations, methods that sort of information, there's a big question about how this information can be brought into evidence if at all. there are some procedural motions that have been filed for the defense to try to get as much if not all of the information as possible. the prosecution is pushing back saying that not everything should be brought into court, because it may not be relevant. it is going to be up to the military judge to decide exactly how to strike a balance between giving the defense everything it says it needs and to address the

prosecution's concerns that national security methods and operations not be violated, not be made public, and put the u.s.'s national security at risk. it is matter that could dominate this pretrial hearing for the rest of the weak. while those hearings are going on a trial for senior al-qaeda figure is taking place here in new york. al-liby has been implicated in the 1998 bombings of two u. u.s. -- 'em bah anies east africa. he was captured to u.s. special forces in tripoli and flown to the u.s. to stand trial earlier this month. there is new evidence that one of the boston bombers committed murder before the boston marathon attack. -- prosecutors linked him to a

triple murder. his younger brother is facing the death penalty for his role in the boston marathon attack. there are new details emerging in nevada in the investigation into monday's deadly school shooting there. erica ferrari has the story. >> reporter: 911 calls captured the chaos unleashed 15 minutes before the morning bell. >> 911? >> i'm calling from sparks middle school. we have an emergency to school. >> someone brought a gun to school that shot a teacher. >> the teacher is down? >> yes. >> reporter: it lasted just three minutes when it was over two 12 year olds were wounded and a beloved math teacher was dead. >>

>> reporter: police are not identifying the 12 year old shooter out of respect for his family. the 7th grader took his own life. this girl knew him from math class. >> he got bullied a couple of times, and i saw kids pushing him around and doing mean things to him. >> reporter: police are looking into prior connection the victims may have had with the shooter, but there are no easy answers as to what prompted the boy to take a 9 millimeter handgun to his school and open fire. >> everybody wants to know why? we don't know right now. >> the teacher was killed trying to save his students and his actions gave other kids time to escape. he is described as devoted husband and father to two daughters, and a marine who did two tours in afghanistan.

>> just because i think ultimately, students and -- and the kids he cared about them so much, i think that it was probably a reaction, you know? like you would with your children. >> reporter: sparks middle school will remain closed for the rest of the week as students add to a growing memorial for their teacher. the government shutdown is over, but the ripple effects are still being felt across the country. for you early filers that could mean the check in the mail could be delayed. it has been forced to push back the processing date for next year. but federal officials say your taxes are still due on april 15th. it is a make or break moment for the future of the city of detroit. federal trial now underway that will determine if detroit's bankruptcy filing can move

forward. the bankruptcy itself also coming a costly affair. >> reporter: for the motor city first came the debt then came the bankruptcy, then the bankruptcy bill, and it is soaring like detroit's historic skyline. the city council due dutifully continues meeting, but it's the emergency manager who calls the shots. and he has handed contracts to lawyers and bankruptcy experts worth more than $62 million and counting. >> my question is, has it even exceeded $62 million? and i don't have that answer. and i should have that answer as an elected official. >> reporter: for this working class auto town facing the largest city bankruptcy in u.s. history, one thing is for sure, the price of paying the legal elite will rise. >> i was talking to a group of attorneys and i said oh, you know, it is going to cost tens of millions of dollars, and they

laughed at me, and they stated won't be tens of millions of dollars, little be hundreds of millions of dollars. >> the more contentious the case the more fighting there is, and the more fees. this is a contentious case. >> reporter: with $20 billion in debt and income of around $1 billion, the city is asking some creditors to accept $0.10 on the dollar. detroit is finding out that going broke is expensive. this report shows law firm jones daye gets $18 million, the accounting firm gets $8 million, and in the final humiliation, the city is paying the auction house christies $200,000 to find out what treasures would fetch if sold. not effected a new arena for the red wings hockey team backed by publ public money.

the bankruptcy woes add to the atrocities to the city's history, including a serious case of the blues. never before scene video of mainly syrian rev gees who say they were left to drown in the mediterranean sea has now been released. survivors say their boat was shot and sunk but libyan traffickers over an argument over payment. it is believed that 200 people drowned. still ahead on al jazeera america, dave warren with your midweek chilly forecast, and the weather in australia is making the task of fighting dozens of brush fires a lot harder. ♪ what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? >> they share it on the stream. >> social media isn't an after-thought, it drives

discussion across america. >> al jazeera america's social media community, on tv and online. >> this is your outlet for those conversations. >> post, upload and interact. >> every night share undiscovered stories.

al jazeera america - a new voice in american journalism - >> introduces america tonight. >> in egypt, police fired teargas at supporters of the ... >> a fresh take on the stories that connect to you. [[voiceover]] they risk never returning to the united states. >> grounded. >> real. >> unconventional. [[voiceover]] we spent time with some members of the gangster disciples. >> an escape from the expected. >> i'm a cancer survivor. not only cancer, but brain cancer. america tonight 9 eastern on al jazeera america welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are our top stories.

pakistan's prime minister meeting with president obama today. the topic of those drone strikes expected to top the agenda. the u.s. has care rid out a number of strikes leaving scores of civilians dead according to some reports. secretary of state john kerry meeting in rome with prime netenyahu. focusing on negotiations with the palestinians and iran's nuclear am beneficiaries. a federal judge is going to decide whether the city of detroit can go ahead with its bankruptcy case. it is the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in u.s. history. 71 brush fires are burning across australia. firefighters are bracing for what could be their worst day yet. weather conditions are expected to worsen with hot temperatures and high winds combining in the forecast. andrew thomas has more from new south wales. >> reporter: john cameron was

packed and ready to leave if necessary. down the road a neighborhood was putting up signs for fire members before she left, don't forget the animals. watch out for the fuel. karen had seen fire before and wasn't leaving yet. >> if i seen flames coming up through the bushes, i would be out of here, but we have had a lot of smokey days up here, but i'm quite at ease, but if the wind changes, i think i will leave. >> reporter: and it was the wind causing the most concern, gusts of up to 100 kilometers an hour can spread flames fast. some helicopters were working but others had to be grounded. nevertheless the early message was that things weren't as bad as had been feared. >> it's cautious optimism. it hasn't been as bad this

morning as we fought it was going to be, but it is moving constantly, and just in the last hour we have had two major flairups in the area. >> reporter: firefighters there were watching as much as acting, the day was young, resources needed to be preserved. you can see how the wind is pouring this smoke across the hill tops, but also spreading embers, and they are starting new fires, most of those aren't of great concern and the firefighters merely watch them to make sure they don't get any bigger. where they are a threat they want to get on top of them. what they don't want to do is waste their water. the closest of the blue mown town flying embers meant authorities urged residents to get out. north of sydney an entirely new fire broke out, but by mid-afternoon the fire hadn't got much bigger nor reached many homes.

andrew thomas, al jazeera in the blue mountains west of sydney. so will australia catch a break weather wise? >> the only break we had was a little rain yesterday. and as the storm moves away the wind picks up and could change direction. here is the satellite picture from australia. it shows it is pretty clear, but it's this spin here as it goes to the beginning of the loop. clockwise, low-pressure spin there, it dropped a little bit of rain across new south whales. but it is bringing in cooler temperatures. only rain you'll get is from the helicopters dropping the water there. dry forecast continues. looking for the next storm to possibly bring in rain without the wind. the temperatures across the country have cooled down a bit. minneapolis and chicago all the way into the 30s. houston is at 65, so that cool

air is coming in from the north, and the storm developing just off of the north will bring in even colder air. as the storm develops off of the coast, we'll continue to see more -- [ technical difficulties ] -- so a new set of freeze watches and warnings are in effect. this is just a frost advisory, you still get frost forming as that wind dies down. here all freeze watches and warnings, even lake effect snow warnings in effect as the colder air comes across the great lakes. and then the next few days this storm moves the rain out but keeps the cold northwest wind in, low-pressure and high-pressure the difference keeping the cold air in place. this is lake-effect snow, a foot of snow could fall in these

areas, east of the great lakes. you start to see that this time of year, elsewhere no snow but temperatures stuck into the 50s with that cold breeze. >> dave warren i did not hear the phrase lake effects snow. thank you. thousands of people are marching in cambodia today demanding that the united nations investigate a july election that was rigged. meanwhile long beach, california is home to the second largest population of cam bodians outside of the country here in the us. thousands were fleeing the deadly ka maher rouge. the younger generation now facing new challenges just growing up in america. ♪ >> reporter: they have one foot in the old world, and one foot in the new, a delicate dance handed down by their elders

forced to flee their homeland many years ago. these teens are young cam bodian americans growing up in california. it's a one-mile stretch of concrete jungle that is home to cambodian restaurants, temples, and teens finding their way between two very different lands. >> we feel like a little family, because everyone is united and we're all together, and we can share our struggles. >> reporter: it's hard now have be a teenager, but these girls also carry the wounds of a war they never lived through, but one their parents did. they say they have struggled to deal with their parent's posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and desire not to talk about what they went through. >> have my community to come back. even though there are a lot of struggles, it is still really

beautiful to me, that's why i feel so strongly about it, because i don't want to feel like i'm losing my roots. >> reporter: roots that took hold in long beach nearly 60 years ago, from the first visit to the university in the 1950s, to the tens of thousands that fled the killing fields. long beach became an obvious choice. today it is home to some 50,000 cambodian residents. this is one of them. years later, cambodia town formal recognition as a landmark in 2007. >> we no longer refugee. we have a rich culture that we want to share, and then my generation or the next generation they are proud of. they are proud to be cam bodian americans. which they didn't have that

before. >> reporter: these girls are taking it even further. it's an intricate dance older and younger generations emerging together from tragedy to see an ancient culture blossom in the warm california sun. still ahead, these, tablet makers, lighter, faster, better. they are unveiling their newwares just in time for you and the holiday shopping season. ♪ uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories? it drives discussion across america. >> share your story on tv and online.

re# #a# #d# #y# ##fo# #r# ## well even anchors use them. apples new tablet products making their way on the market in about a week. but the tablet wars are heating

up. >> the new ipad air weighs just one pound. >> reporter: apple lifts the lid on its latest tablet, the ipad air is marketed at the lightest gadget of its kind. revamped but not exactly reinvented, the device is the tech giants attempt to regain traction. two years ago the operating system commanded nearly two-thirds of the tablet market share. googles android lacked behind with just 30%, but the it research forecasts by years end android's market will take the lead. and there are other players hoping to make a launch. nokia unveiled its first mobile

computer. it uses microsoft window's software which also powers tablets, but the operating system is still struggling with a lack of applications. >> in the u.s. apple will continue to dominate. they have close to half a million apps on ipad now, which is way ahead of any of their computers. >> reporter: apple turned the computer industry on its head with the first ipad. today tablet sales have surged to almost rival that of the pc. and in the tech war it's innovation that determines who ends up on top. wal-mart looking to cash in. offering $300 in credit for anyone who trades in an old ipad towards a new ipad air or the

$399 ipad mini. thanks for watching, al jazeera, i'm del walters. "the stream" is up next.