hello and welcome to al jazerra america, i am del wall territories, these are the stories we are following for you. u.s. captures a suspect in the 2012 be benghazi libya attack tt left four americans dead. as rebels advance in iraq america beefing up security at its embassy in baghdad. twin tornadoes in nebraska causing death and destruction. ♪ ♪ we begin with a major

development concerning the attack on the u.s. embassy in ben gassy libya back in september the 2012. we are now awaiting comments from the state department momentarily, we'll take to you that briefing live when that happens. as you may recall the attack left four people dead including the u.s. ambassador chris stevens. the pentagon announcing this afternoon that they have a suspect in custody. lisa stark joins us live from washington. lisa tell us more about what you know about the suspect and the arrest. >> reporter: well, del, the department of defense is now confirm that go u.s. forces have captured ahmed abu khatallah, he is believed to be one of those involved in that attack in benghazi. the department of defense says it was the u.s. military, along with enforcement, law enforcement personnel believed to be the fbi who captured khatallah on sunday, the department of defense says there were no civilian casualties and that all u.s. military personnel are out of libya where that

capture was made. we have a statement now from the white house press secretary, saying the fact that he, khatallah, is in u.s. custody, is a testament to the painstaking efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence personnel. because of their courage and professionalism the individual will now face the full weight of the american justice system. now, khatallah has denied being involved in the attacks. in fact, he held sort i've gloating press conference about a month after those deadly attacks, but he has been charged three counts here in the united states and he is expected to be brought back to the u.s. for his trial. in fact, the justice department has also released a statement saying now this capture is a milestone. they that i that khatallah currently faces criminal charges on three counts, but they retain the right to add additional

charges. the defense department won't say where he's being held rightow, only that he is in u.s. custody off of libya. he's not in libya any longer. reuters is reporting he's held on a u.s. navel ship. but he's expected to come to the united states to face charges. now, this is the first capture in those deadly attacks september 11th, 2012 at the u.s. mission in benghazi. as you said em bass door chris stevens was killed in that attack, so were three other ericans. it's been a political lightening rod. -- republicans have accused the white house of not fortifying the mission enough and trying to cover up. there have been a number of hearings evening a select committee looking in to this. we have reaction, of course,

from capitol hill applauding the capture, senator mccain saying he thinks that the suspect should be brought to guantanmo. held there and then face charges. we don't know exactly where he will be brought to, but he will come to the us u.s. to face those charges. there are still about a dozen or so others that the u.s. would like to capture, would like to get in records to these attacks and the white house said they will continue to hunt for those suspects. back to you. >> lisa stark, thank you very much. a rarity in washington as it was kept secret since sunday. we want to reminds you that we are watching right now the state department briefing room where we are awaiting word on exactly how this capture and arrest went down. detail by detail. we will bring that briefing to you live when it happens. we turn now to iraq where the situation is getting worse. more u.s. troops are now on their way to the country and diplomats from the u.s. and iran, now trying to find a way to diffuse the crisis.

meanwhile, more iraqi cities are under the control of the sunni rebel group ey isil. they are controlling several other key cities. british mim prime minister warng that the fighting a major cause for concern. >> what we see in syria and now in iraq in simms o syria in tere ice is the most serious threat to british security that there is today. the number of foreign fight nurse that area, including those from the u.k. who could try to return for the you feel k. is a threat threat to our country and we will do everything that we can to keep our people safe. >> we turn now to randle pinkston who is in washington. randall, david cameron not the only one talking and the crisis in iraq, it was also the topic of discussion on capitol hill. >> reporter: indeed it was, del. concern that those isil, sunni

insurgents could find their way to the u.s. in the senate minority leader miles an hour mcconnell says president obama needs a comprehensive plan, not only to assist iraq, but also to put down those isil sunni rebel forces which have taken control of many military bases and cities. >> isi life. sail is a lethal, violentforce. they are represent a grave threat to u.s. interests. the administration must act quickly to provide a sit tons to the maliki government and for every gain made by the u.s. and allied troops is lost. and before isil expand its sanctuary from which it can eventually threaten the united states. >> reporter: referring to president obama's recent speech at west point in which he laid out a new counter terrorism strategy, senator mcconnell says the president should come up with a strategy and a plan that clearly addresses the threat pose ed by isil.

>> and we are now hearing reports that the united states and iran discussed the conflict in vienna last night. what can you tell us about that meeting. >> reporter: that meeting was held on the margins on washington parlance, part of ongoing discussions on controlling iraq's nuclear program. the u.s. is looking to iran for political assistance to convince iraq's majority sunni leaders to cooperate, to move towards reconciliation with the minority -- i am soar it's majority shi'ite leaders to move towards cooperation with the minority sunni and kurds. the house says, however, there is no linkage between the nuclear talks and the discussions over iraq and the white house also says there is no intention to cooperate militarily with iran over iraq. >> randle pinkston for us live in washington. thank you very much. meanwhile, isi life. or the islamic state of iraq and levant now seizing more territory a iraq across iraq.

is goal to create an is limb being stake, imran kahn has more from baghdad. >> reporter: sunni rebels continue their advance in the country. in the main city of boo cuba, fierce clashes between the islamic state and the levant fighters and shia militias there is connecticut fusing information coming out of ba cuba, an incident where 63 prisoners were killed. the government saying i was isil fighters. however, other sources saying that it was the shia militia. >> also more diplomat and i can political moves in the capital baghdad. they have in a key general to ahead vice them on options they have militarily. lots going on but little from the iraq military. so far no big military push in to the territory that his the sunni rebels control. joining us now is jim walsh

a research associate at m.i.t. security studies program, in boston, mass manslaughter this mink, before we talk about iraqu want to ask about the arrest in the benghazi incidents. >> it improves u.s. credibility it says if all tack the u.s. you will be held accountable and have to pay for your sins. i think it's goods that he is being brought back to the u.s. to face a trial with due process and that's a process we'll learn more about the details. you know, we have investigation after investigation, my sense is when this gets before a federal judge and people have to testify under oath we really will see what happened and how it unfoaled and who is responsible. >> jim, this has to be unnerving for those on the other side of the united states it's shaping up to be a face of not if the u.s. will arrest you it might be when. >> that's right.

>> one of the consequences of this being a political issue is it was a high priority from a police stand point the u.s. public and congress wants to see what happened and wants accountability. and so this became a priority and we'll know more about the operation later, but presumably special operations units went in and snatched this guy and if i were part of that group that launched that tac at that tack n benghazi i would be nervous and moving from house to hughes right about now. >> the man we isil telling authorities upon his release in baghdad i'll see you in new york. how concerned should the u.s. be that what is happening in iraq will one do i effect the u.s. >> there seems to be conflicting reporting around that. the u.s. official subsequently came out and said that the gentlemen who reported that story, and having -- it having happened in 2009, he was not in custody at that point. but i think we can set aside that detail and look at this

bigger picture, which is this. in the near term their objectives are focused on eye remark they want to set up a state within iraq. and their core target isn't even americans. it's shia muslims who they consider apostoli apostates peor worse than christians if they can establish a lands base which i don't think they can do. but if they were able to take owe iraq, they could then at some point, and you heard mitch mcconnell use the word eventually. at some point use that as a base for trying to plot tacks against the u.s., but right now their short-term focus is iraq and in particular the shia population in iraq. >> so, jim, what options does the president have when it comes to dealing with the situation inky rack, and moriniraq and moy should the u.s. put more boots on the ground. >> there is no interest in putting more boots on the ground. we have 275 pima signed there. i think 175 are now on the ground. they are talking about maybe another hundred beyond that. but these are going to be

special operations forces and trainers. they'll be there to collect intelligence, maybe to help with targeting and with training. but there is no appetite anywhere in the u.s. for putting large numbers of forces down. and frankly, to do what? you know, right now it's a very dangerous situation. if you were to enter mosul or one of the towns taken by isil. how would you tell the difference between a civilian and a fighter. and let's say that the iraqi forces go back in and retake those cities which i think they eventually will. there is a real prospect for atrocity and revenge. so i think the real big picture here, del, is that, yes, there is an immediate military issue of trying to stop their advance and push them back. but the broader issues is a political issue, a failing of the al-maliki government to reach out and have reconciliation with the kurds and sunnies and until you solve that political problem, you are really are not going to get at fundamentally the military problem. >> jim walsh as always our

expert research associate at m.i.t. security program joining us live from boston, jim, thank you very much. the last time the united states got involved in iraq it was costly, both in terms of human life and the u.s. economy. al jazerra america's mary snow taking a look at the bottom line of bat. >> reporter: when the u.s. first 70 troops in to afghanistan in 2001, declared a war on terrorism and then invaded iraq there 2003, it expected its mission and cost of the iraqi war to be limited. the prediction was way off. the bush administration projected in 2003, that the iraq war would cast between 50 and $60 billion. more than a decade later, congress has appropriated $1.5 trillion for operations in iraq and afghanistan. and defense spending has increased. in 2001, military expenditures made up 3%. u.s. gdp.

it got as high as 4.8% to receding the 3.8% where it stands now. some economy mists say the costs are even meyer. one report from the cost of war project from brown university puts the true cost of war in iraq and afghanistan between 4 and $6 trillion, along with military operation that includes costs for veterans, namelies indirect costs to the defense department and interest paid on the money borrowed to fight these wars in the end critics are asking what did all that money buy? >> it seems to have bought you trouble and a very different kind of country in iraq, one that's fallen apart. >> reporter: given the current crisis in iraq it's likely the u.s. will continue paying. mary snow, al jazerra.

and a programming note. tonight we will have a special half hour report on iraq. in crisis iraq, chaos and collapse it airs tonight at 8:30 eastern time. right here on al jazerra america. we continue to watch the state department. we are expecting comments momentarily concerning the arrest and capture of a key suspect in the benghazi libya attacks, we'll bring that you briefing live when it happens, stay with us.

again, you are looking live at the state department. we are awaiting word from state concerning the arrest and capture of a key suspect of the benghazi libya attack. that attack left four americans dead, including the ambassador chris stephens, we'll bring you those comments live when they happen. elsewhere, bring back our boys, that's the word from israel today as it continues to search for the three missing teenagers. israel cracking down on hamas, they believe the group kidnapped the boys, the israel he

ambassador to the united nations calling to the to the inter flagsal pure at this. >> i call to the security council and international community to unequivocally condemn the kidnapping and insure that our boys return home safely to their families. international community might also call on president abbas to one disarm hamas, two, stop the smuggling and manufacturing of weapons. and three, prevent rocket fire from gas in to israel. this is the only responsible cause of action. in kenya 15 people are dead following an attack from al-shabab. this is not far from the attack a sunday that killed the lives of 48 others, many were just watching the world cup. they are seeking revenge because of kenyan troops on the ground in somalia. this is the worst attack by

al-shabab since the siege of the mall in kenya back in september. south sudan's cholera epidemic is spreading. anita is no there with moore. >> reporter: the cholera epidemic awareness campaign? full swing. but with the city's lack of plumbing running waste and raw sewage down the middle street. they have their work cut out to them. families get soap lessons, but peer in the water the problem is clear. most families get their water from the river nile. >> we need the government to take care of the water here. because some people just put something rubbish and everything in water, that's why it bring to us many disease. >> reporter: there are two small working water depots this one donated by u.s. aid. tanker drivers tell us power

cuts should down the bumps most delays causing long delays, so many come here to fill up instead. the city growing so fast but its primary drinking supply is what it's always been, the river nile. but that river is also a source of cleaning water, industrial water and used for waste disposal. it's quicker, cheaper and uncief hands out bottles of chlorine solution to dose them. but many locals are too poor even for this. richard is recover from cholera at a special doctors without border clinch he can he told us, sometimes i buy clean water but sometimes i just want affor cand it. the government says a lack of resources and a return to internal conflict, has stalled plans to fix the problems. >> one, there is poor hygiene, because of the not well managed sewage system, the population will be definitely affected with

this kind of disease. >> reporter: in the town, raw sewage pooled behind buildings runs in to channels that feed the nile. newly built sewage oxidation ponds charge fees for disposal, and are already too small for one of the fastest growing cities in africa. in these conditions, cholera will just keep coming back. anita mic al jazerra. also a painful mosquito out break. accord to the cdc. there have been more than 130,000 suspected cases of the chicken virus in the caribbean and south america in "the stream" year. 39 in the u.s. so far. the virus rarely results in death, but the symptoms can be severe, including fever, and joint pain. a woman from georgia now one of the cases in the u.s., she talked about the debilitating effects with.

>> reporter: ashley manning got her malaria shots before a mission to haiti this month. she wasn't worried about the incurable chicken virus. >> just a about unof of mosquito rebel end with deet and hope you don't to get hit. >> reporter: ashley and another volunteer got bit. her sill to him showing up shortly after she returned home for georgia. >> my joints were hurting really bad. i was like getting really out of breath and i was like having a fever. 146789. >> reporter: she ended up in the hospital last wednesday. >> my temperature was really high so i was really does is a just counseled kind of out of it. >> reporter: because there is no cure doctors can only treat her systems. she was on crutches for a week before being able to walk on her own. but the rashes and joint pain continue. >> like right now if i do that, it hurts my wrists. it was really rough and i can only imagine what it was like -- what it's like to the people in

the caribbean, haiti that are suffering with it right now without any kind of medication. >> again our have shell carey reporting. coming up, twin tornadoes hitting a small town in nebraska. two people are dead, the town all but destroyed.

welcome back to al jazerra america. i am del walters, these are your headlines at this hour. the united states military capturing a key suspect in the 2012 attack on the u.s. em bass a in ben gaza libya. he is in a secure location outside of the libya. that attack left four americans dead including the u.s. ambassador chris stephens. president obama sending more than 200 troops to iraq, coming as isil continues to take control of more iraqi cities, british prime minister saying the group is the most serious threat to his country as well. and a state of emergency in nebraska twin tornadoes striking the northeastern part of the state yesterday leaving two

people dead. half the small town of pilger was leveled. al jazerra's erica has the story. >> it was devastating. i mean, he has nothing, no noth, is cloth on his back. >> reporter: residents are still reeling after not one but two tour mayos. >> oh, gosh. >> reporter: tour through northeast nebraska. >> huge, there was two of them. one back over here and one coming right at us. churning side by side the double twisters ripped apart more than half of the small farming community one man describes the frantic search for friend. >> we thought he was gone for a long time we kept yelling at him and dug him out and pulled the wood and bricks off him and drug him out. >> reporter: insurgent responders are still searching for people or animals trapped under the debris. a town of barely 400 people nearly two dozen injured, a five-year-old child is dead.

>> it's just unbelievable. you are just kind of in a state of shock because you can't believe that it can be gone so fast. >> reporter: erica, al jazerra. and from erica we turn now to our meteorologist nicole mitchell. and, nicole, this has been a disturbing season already, not over yet. >> meteorologist: of course, you know, the height of the season is april and may. and things traveled northward as you get more in the summer because of the contrast in the season so it starts farther in the southern plains early and then the risk for severe weather elevates as we get farther in to the month of june, for example. here is some of the damage from yesterday, but this only goes back a little over 12 hours, doesn't capture all of it, but at the core of what we had, you can see by the dots, nebraska, right along the minnesota, iowa border was one of the places. what was so impressive about those twin tornadoes, that is rare as was, but you could see that they were both large and intense at the same time, usually one kind of over takes the other. kind of sucks energy away from the other. so one will get bigger as one gets smaller, that eventually

happened but they were both large and intense at the same time for quite a period of time. which is even more unusual. so here is what we have today. you can kind of pick out the boundary, laying through the midsection of the country. that was our firing len yesterday. will be again today. ahead of that moisture and heat that will be fuel, also heating up some other places, i'll get to that in a second. but along line, you can see where we could have some of those showers and storms develop anywhere from the north cease but especially as we get in to the midwest this could be the fire line for stronger storms again today. this is a slight risk so hopefully not as wide suppress as we saw yesterday but where you can see the yellows, that's that chance for some of that severe weather, the elevated chance that we could have. that could also be the core of our heavy rain, places like wisconsin, southern wisconsin all the way in to northern parts -- or right around the great lake region watch for some of that. in contrast, very dry, it has been around the four corners region. so this is where we could use

some of that rain. but i mentioned that heat that's going to funnel in to the midsection of the country, heat and humidity help fuel the storms but also in some places are very warm up and down the east coast today, some of our first 90s possible of the season. philadelphia, for example, could see that. and of course, we are only in to june not officially in to summer so it's only just beginning with that heat. >> and the humidity followed too. nicole, thank you very much. well, it could be the most expensive violin anywhere in the worlds, a violin made in 1731 by the strai stradivarius family. many claim there is nothing like the sound they bro free throws deuce, the rare violin to fetch 207 and a half and $10 million at auction, we want to t thank u for watch al jazerra america, i am del walters, 101 east is next, and we continue to watch the developments coming out of washington, d.c. at this hour. that is the state department

briefing room inning foy bottom in washington, d.c. we arwewe are awaiting word on e arrest and capture of a key figure in the benghazi libya attacks, in september 2124 americans died.