>> it's coming together little by little. >> real life solutions you can't afford to miss. >> we're making it the best that we can. >> "america's middle class - rebuilding the dream". >> tonight. >> 7:00 eastern. >> only on al jazeera america. >> breaking overnight, gunman raid a school in northwestern pakistan, 120 people are dead, most of the victims are children. others are still held hostage even as we speak. these are live images. we are on the ground where rescue operations are still underway. >> a 16 hour stand out of in an australian cafe, what we've learned about the gunman. >> authorities in pennsylvania try to find a veteran they say

went on a deadly shooting rampage targets his own family. >> gas prices falling again. that's bad news for some businesses and not just the oil companies who are feeling it. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. in pakistan, right now a rescue abrasion i guess underway after a deadly attack at an army school that happened in the northwestern city near the afghan border. >> 120 people are killed, most children between the ages of 9-16. officials saying hundreds of students and teachers still held inside. the pakistani taliban taking responsibility on the military-run school. >> john joining us now, what else do we know now? >> we began monday's program with news of a siege and must do the same here on tuesday, different part of the world, different kind of siege but still a siege. right now pakistani security

trying to gain control of the building. they fear the death toll could rise at scores of teachers and students are still trapped inside in the military run school. >> this morning, gunman stormed a military run school in northern pakistan, killing dozens of students and teachers, talibani gunman took over the school, a physics lab assistant saw the attack. >> a small number of children were present. on the upper story, exams were being held for class 11 and 12. students were sitting there. i saw six or seven men were entering every class, beating children. >> army commanders arrived at school and started firing at the gunman. there were 500 children between the ages of nine and synagog to the school here. >> after an hour army personnel came and rescued us.

we saw our friends shot three or four times, some dead and some injured. their blood had spilled all over the police. >> it's unclear how many are inside. the rescue operation is currently underway. the injured were taken to hospital by ambulance. it's being called the highest profile attack to hit the troubled region in months, a spokesman for the pakistani taliban told royalties his group was responsible saying our suicide bombers have entered the school. they have instructions not to harm the children, but to target the army personnel. the spokesman said it was revenge for the army offensive in north waziristan referring to the operation launched in june where hundred was taliban fighters died. >> five of the attackers have been killed. they say one is still missing, but he's confined to one block in the school. the pakistani taliban has been fighting a vicious war to fight

the government. they have stepped up attacks recently targeting security forces, military bases, check points and airports. attacks on civilian targets are relatively rare. this is hard to hear, but to the taliban, two the taliban, even a school filled with young children, most of those shot today were between 12-16 is a completely legitimate target to them. >> let's go to peshar. is the taliban still in control of the school? >> according to the military courses, at least a vast majority of the compound has now been cleared. the attacker, five of them have been killed. one attacker is still at large. he's been confined to a certain block of the army, public school

and the military operation is still going on. we heard multiple explosions, suggesting that the attackers were also using hand grenades and according to the latest reports we are getting, the death toll has been mounding, now 130 killed, over 100 students are wounded. they have been moved to emergency anthospitals and the combined military hospital as well as another hospital. the military operation is still ongoing. >> 130 children killed, more than 100 wounded, have we heard anything so far about any demands that may have been made? >> sorry, the line is not very clear. can you repeat the question, please? >> have there been demands made?

>> no demands were made except that the taliban spokesman said that this was an attack in revenge for the families of the taliban fighters killed by the security forces and no demands, because most of the fighters who came into the compound were wearing suicide jackets, so this was indeed a suicide mission. there were no demands as far as taking hostages was concerned. the aim was to kill as many people as possible. >> we're hearing that the prime minister has just arrived. what is he saying? >> well, what the prime minister is saying is that he he's going to be supervising the operation that the military's conducting, pakistan's military chief, and declared a three day mourning as far as pakistani concerned and

called this a national tragedy. >> thank you very much. >> the attack comes as the adjustment and pakistan have stepped up counter terrorism efforts in that region, including a reported uptick in recent u.s. drone strikes. the u.s. gives pakistan about a billion dollars in military aid every year. let's turn to our middle east correspondent in jerusalem. nick, you have spent years living and reporting from pakistan. this is a country that is very significant to the u.s. put this attack into context for us. >> pakistanis are used to attacks, but this is not only unprecedented but one of the worst school shootings in modern times. they have simply not seen this bro, taliban gunman walking into an auditorium where so many students were having an event

and trying to kill as many people as possible. we have seen major high profile attacks in the past, against the equivalent of pakistan's pentagon, against the karachi airport and lahore, but never this kind of attack. some describe this as desperation from the taliban. when i lived there, the attacks were military targets, police targets, the attacks were soldiers. some 80 to 90% of the tribal areas along the of a fan border, and so therefore, the taliban aren't able to go after the high profile targets, so they hit a soft target and we've never seen this level of carnage and horror. >> the afghan has been at war with the afghani army.

they oppose female education, these are the same guys that shot malala, right? >> yes, they are, the impact that her prize has had on pakistan, this is a girl who was shot point-blank by a taliban gunman and survived, not only survived, went to the u.n. and said i forgive my affecter and we need to rally around this idea, girl's education, that can change the world. that has changed pakistan and fundamentally challenged the pakistan notion that girls aren't worth being educated and girls aren't the same as boys or should not have the same access to a future as boys. she proved and that nobel proves that that is wrong and that to a certain extent is why taliban has to have this kind of response. it was only a week ago that she

received that reward. >> nick schiffron live in jerusalem, nick, thank you. >> stay with us. we'll have much more on this attack on a school in pakistan in our next half hour. del. >> in syria, in is your generalities now taking control of two key military bases. the bases in the province in the northwestern part of the country and they lion a major highway, connecting damascus with aleppo. intense fighting has been going on. >> iran's president promising employees around central bank that only a few people in iran don't want to see sanctions lifted. a june deadline is set to reach an agreement. >> australia is remember two killed in a hostage siege at a

chocolate shop and cafe. the prime minister was among those laying flowers outside the shop in downtown sydney. he says the culprit was not on any terror watch list. it's still not clear how the two hostages died. >> a 16 hour standoff comes to an end in a hail of gunfire. >> there was a number of gunshots heard, which caused officers to move straight to what we call an e.a., emergency action plan and that caused them to enter. >> there's something going on. >> before police conducted the raid, hostages fled the cafe after shots were fired by the gunman. using automatic rifles, police moved in. emergency workers followed after carrying out hostages on

stretchers. two hostages and the gunman were dead. >> they made the call, because they believed if they didn't enter, many more lives would have been lost. >> hundreds mourned the victims afterwards, laying flowers in front of the cafe. >> our hearts go out to all of those caught up in this appalling incident and their loved ones. on behalf of all australians, i extend my sympathy to the families of the two hostages, who died overnight. >> years before he walked into the cafe, held 17 hostages at gunpoint and placed this part of sydney on lockdown, he was well known to the police. he came to sydney in 1996 and seen on streets protesting the government, like here in 2009. >> this pen is my gun, and these words are my bullets.

>> he's had a number of run-ins with the law. he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife. >> even if he had been monitored 24 hours a day, it's quite likely, certainly possible that this incident could have taken place. >> during the crisis at the cafe, hostages held up a black flag similar to the one used by is sile. prime minister tony abbot said he embraced their idealogy. >> you can see how this has quickly become a carpet that covers the center of this square. this isn't just about those who died. there's a real sense among people here that sydney changed over the course of this siege, that the innocence was lost. al jazeera, sydney. >> the investigation into the deaths is now underway and officials are also looking into how he was let out on bail

despite facing charges in his ex-wife's death. >> the massive manhunt continues in pennsylvania, police searching for with my practicedly stone since monday. >> they say the former marine went on a shooting spree, killing six family members, including his ex-wife. a 17-year-old is critically wounded. this is the second manhunt now for a gunman in eastern pennsylvania, just in the last three months. >> yes, while the last gunman who was on the run had his sights on law enforcement, this man considered armed and dangerous is gunning for his family. police believe the deadly rampage is fueled by a custody battle stemming from a nasty divorce. they recently went for an emergency hearing in a custody hearing. >> the man is accused of going on a rampage that left bodies in

three homes. the shooting spree spread to several towns as the gunman targeted his family. police say stone shot and killed his ex-wife's sister, her husband and their 14-year-old daughter. their 17-year-old son was found barely alive, airlifted to a nearby hospital. next, stone's former mortgage and her mother found shot to death. police then found stone's ex-wife, nicole stone, dead inside her apartment. they believe stone shot her to death while their two yuck children were standing feet away. >> i heard three or four gunshots and the kids yelling mommy, no, no. >> this neighbor saw him leave the apartment with the couple's two girls, eight and five years old. >> i asked him was everything ok, and i saw the kids, and the kids father exiting the house, and they didn't have any coats on or anything. they just had their pajamas on, and he just said we got to go. he was like she's hurt, she's

hurt pretty bad. we have to leave. >> the girls were found unharmed at a neighbor's house, but the manhunt continues. police thought they had stone surrounded in his own home in pensburg. when they did not get a response, swat teams tossed gas canisters into the house. still, nothing. >> as we stand here right now, we do not know where he is. >> police are telling residents in the area to stay inside and lock their doors until further notice. as for a motive, according to court documents, the stone divorce was contentious and bitter. neighbors often heard loud arguments, adding nicole feared for her life. >> she would go and tell all the ladies in the neighborhood that this man is going to kill me. she felt threatened. >> those who know him say he suffers from ptsd and was discharged from the military because of it.

>> the white house asking the vatican for help transferring detainees out of guantanamo bay, secretary of state john kerry make that go request at the vatican on monday. he was looking for humanitarian solutions. today the president meets with catholic officials at the white house. the van can released the long awaited report on u.s. nuns, finding that they want greater recognition and support in their pastoral duties. it called for nuns to live according to the ideals of their orders. >> nicole mitchell is here, good morning, the storm now moving east. >> a lot of this has moved out, but there's still a lot of lingering problems on the roads. these are images out of south dakota, near interstate 90 were five or six inches of snow. the snowplows are out this morning because some of that started as ice, so the roads are pretty slick especially south

dike into minnesota. we still have the winter weather advisories as far as parts of michigan with this system moving on. here's where that is now, moving into a warmer area, so more of this will be rain as it moves along. this is the same storm that extended to the south with severe weather a couple of days ago, as this moved along. as this continues, should be rain showers southward. the bulk is on the northern side, more rain for the great lakes and more into this afternoon, we'll see rain moving into the northeast, and that lingers overnight with a little bit of lingering stuff for tomorrow. most people, it will be rain now. >> pushing east, nicole, thank you very much. >> we'll focus on the man behind the deadly hostage situation in sydney. >> we'll talk to former f.b.i. profiler to tell us what this attack had in common with others and what police missed in advance. >> protesting the deaths of michael brown and eric garner,

demonstrators taking one extreme measures against one police department to get their point across. >> bill cosby's wife speaking out about the sex assault claims against her husband. >> today's big number talks about the big number airlines are making off of charging you those pesky fees.

>> the airlines raked in $960 million just a fly your bags. they say that's up 9% from the same time last year. >> the big revenue driver is actually ticke fares. >> the six and a half% hike in interest rates is the largest increase since 1998. the ruble fell by 10% on monday and now worth a little more than

a penny in u.s. dollars. >> australians are paying tribute this morning to victims of a hostage standoff in sydney. two people, plus the gunman were killed after police tornado the cafe, ending the siege. it's not clear if they died in the raid or at the hands of man haron monis. australia's prime minister is describing the hostage taker as a deluded and sick individual. mary ellen o'toole, a retired f.b.i. profilers joins ins this morning. if you were building a profile of man haron monis, what would it be? >> i would look at his very violent background that took place or evolved over a period of years and then in combination with that, i would look at his -- the development of his violent ideation and his

interests in groups like isis and when that started and the combination of the two. that becomes very important. those two things would give me the most important information and i would look for changes in behavior that would suggest that he was planning an event like the one we saw in sydney, because these events don't just happen, as though he just snapped. there was planning that took place. those nuance changes and behavior become really important. >> you elude to his criminal record and it was actually quite extensive. let's show his rap sheet. he faced 40 sexual and indecent assault charges. he was freed on bail despite charged with in connection with the murder of his ex-wife. he was convicted of sending offensive letters to the family of dead soldiers. convicted. is there anything in that criminal history that should have been a red flag to australian authorities? >> it's a combination of factors

in his history, but it's not just a lengthy criminal history, it is a violent criminal history. it's interpersonal violence, and his rhetoric contradicts his violent behavior, so for example, he indicated that he had a problem with australian military fighting in wars where innocent women and children were killed and yet if you look at his violent behavior, it involved sexual assault and the involvement with his wife's homicide. he speaks one way, but behaves another. when you do an assessment on somebody, that becomes important, because that rhetoric about oh, i feel so bad about these innocent women and children is meaningless. it's simply a facade and that becomes important to understand about him. >> does it worry you that someone like this was not on a terror watch lift, but let out on bail after a conviction? >> it's very concerning, but at the same time, there are other

people throughout the world who are equally as violent, but they never come to the attention of law enforcement for a variety of reasons and those people could equally become involved in something as tragic as this, so it's not just that he wasn't, that is a concern, but it's the other people who have less of a formal violent background and yet are still capable of something like this. >> f.b.i. profiler, miss o'toole, thank you for your insights this morning. >> angry protests in oakland, california over police involved deaths. 25 were arrested after chaining themselves to a door and flag pole of the police department in oakland, also to one another, walking in major intersection and the ramp to i-880. >> at least five officers have been assaulted by demonstrators, including two police lieutenants hit during saturday's millions

marsh. 31 arrests have been made. >> the deaths in ferguson and new york drawing attention to police body cameras. we spent a day riding with officers in washington state. we have it you to watch policing body cams tonight at 8:00 eastern time right here. >> let's get a check of the forecast. >> i have relatives visiting from north dakota and minnesota now and temperatures in new york have been in the 30's and 40's, they're walking around in tee shirts. this is the reason why. far go minus 14, minnesota four. there's sold air coming in and winds gusting in the 20-mile an hour range is really cooling temperatures down this morning in addition to all the ice still dealing with on the roads. ahead of that storm system, still mild air, temperatures

near 50 for new york today, 59 for atlanta, so if you're on the other side of the front, you've still got a day or two of reprieve. >> coming up, we'll have much more on the ongoing deadly attack on a pakistan school. >> why thousands of venezuelans took to the streets upset about a u.s. policy. >> a $349 million nasa tower is completed. why was it then closed? that's one of the stories caught in our global net.

>> you are looking live at pakistan, 5:30 p.m. there, rescue efforts continue after a school was attacked by gunman. more on that coming up in just a minute. good morning and welcome to al jazeera america. >> we are going to talk about the drastic steps the v.a. is taking to keep vets from being

addict to drugs and overdosing. >> gas prices plunging again. which industries are thriving and which are suffering because of the decline at the pumps. >> people giving up citizenship to move overseas. >> let's look at our latest headlines. the search continues for a pennsylvania man police say shot and killed six people monday. officials say the victims were all relatives of bradley williams stone, including his ex-wife. the 17-year-old was critically wounded. the rampage was fueled by a nasty custody battle. >> australia talking about what led to the deaths at a chocolate cafe after people were taken captive. he was not on any terror watch list. >> in pakistan, 130 people are dead, most of them children at a military run school. the taliban attacked the school in retaliation for military

operations nearby. five attackers have been killed. >> john is tracking the developments. what's the latest you're hearing? >> this is the second day in a row we've had to begin our program with a major siege, which makes international headlines, this one in the city of in northwestern pakistan. it's been a few months since the taliban in pakistan made an attack as brazen as this. this is one of the worst school attacks ever in history. at least six armed men stormed into the school, which is run by the pakistan military. exams were underway. gunman started firing. there were suicide bombers involved, as well. the school is run by the pakistan military and has 500 students and teachers. a spokesman of the taliban is saying that our suicide bombers entered the school. they have instructions from the to harm the children but target the army personnel. if that is true, clearly somebody didn't get the message,

because we are looking at 130 dead in the confines of the school now. >> did the pakistani taliban say why they carried out the attack? >> there's no ransom demand here. this seems to be revenge against the pack 17i military with whom they've been at war. they want to get back at them for the campaign that the pakistani military began against the taliban in the remote mountainous region where they operate about six months ago. in that time, the pakistani mill stare killed 1800 talibani fighters and destroyed weapons and stores. 7,000 people have been forced away from their homes until this fighting dice down. the last big attack was at the airport in june where 36 people were killed. whether targeting a school in this way is going to garner the pakistan taliban much support

among the people of taliban and the world remains to be seen. >> are we starting to see international reaction? >> yes. this is literally just coming in, so i'm reading this more or less for the first time. first of all, the u.s. ambassador to pakistan says that the united states strongly condemns the senseless andin humane attacks on students and educators and stands in solidarity with the people of pakistan and all who fight the menace of terrorism. from malala, the nobel peace price laureate, she says i'm heartbroken by this senseless and cold-blooded act of terror that is unfolding before us. of course, some are linking this attack to malala's -- >> yeah -- >> prize -- >> taliban -- ok, thank you. >> nick schiffron is in jerusalem. you covered pakistan for many

years, what are the goals of the pakistani taliban? >> the officials goals are resistance against the pakistani state, the enforcement of sharia, essentially enforcement of their interpretation of islamic law in the tribal areas, the areas in pakistan that border afghanistan, but also a notion that that can spread throughout pakistan. they do talk about taking over the pakistani state. number three, the unification or attacks on u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. that's less rely than it was when the pakistani created themselves in 2007, but those are the goals. most of the attacks that the talibani taliban have launched other than two notable examples have been inside pakistan. they are different than al-qaeda in that sense and different from the afghan taliban, they are

mostly focused on pakistan. >> based on your experience, living in the country, how is this going to play out in pakistan? will it galvanize the pakistani government and the people against the taliban? >> if you go through twitter, if you go through facebook, watch pakistani t.v., there is horror and shock. one father was on t.v. and it's been replaying there for the last few hours. he said that i put my son in a uniform this morning and i'm putting him in a casket tonight. there will be fury, anger and it will be national. it will momentarily united pakistan, but weaver seen this before. we've seen this after the attack on malala, the attack on the catchery airport, everybody units and says this is horrible. pakistan that never proved the ability to unit as a country and

oppose the pakistan. some even if they don't support the taliban come from the same tribes. it's very difficult to separate those people, so you will see a lot of effort to unify a country that is aghast, horrified by the level of carnage we saw this morning, which was absolutely unprecedented. until now, we haven't seen anyone in pakistan being able to grab that temporary unification and turn it into a national movement to oppose the taliban. >> nick schiffron, live from jerusalem for perspective on the pakistani taliban. >> we'll bring you the latest on the school attack in pakistan throughout the morning. thousands of venezuelans taking to the streets in caracas monday were protesting u.s. sanctions. the marsh was odors by the countries socialist government. many protestors wore red in support of president maduro.

congress approved freezing assets for some venezuelan officials. >> an appointment breaks ground on two front in washington, d.c. this morning. this was an historic vote. >> yes, and months in the making. a new surgeon general, the last act the democratic-controlled senate could do for president obama before they turn over the gaffe very well to republicans next month. >> confirmation, 13 months in the making. the doctor cleared to become the countries next surgeon general. at just 37 years old, he is the youngest in american history to hold the job. he's also the first person of indian descent to serve as america's top doc. monday's mystic vote was nothing short of an uphill battle. >> we received the nomination

from the united states, reported from committee in february this year. obviously we're in december. it's been sitting here since february. the post has been vacant since july. >> illinois senator dick durbin citing the ebola epidemic and cases that wound up here in the u.s., called the debate over the vote a breakdown. >> muc i'd be reluctant to put someone into the post to use it as a bull lie pulpit. >> many of the gop opposed to murphy because of his support for obamacare and part statements on gun control. >> if your goal is to make guns

the bully pulpit of your advocacy in the surgeon general's office, that would concern me. >> murphy post add tweet in 2012, the harvard and yale educated doctor saying: >> murphy told members of congress that his focus as surgeon general, we will be on battling obesity, not guns, but the vote was still a squeaker, only one republican supporting him and three democrats from red pro gun states like west virginia voting against him. >> congress still has quite a few of the president's nominations on the docket. what else are they trying to tackle before they go away from the holidays? >> two big high profile once. immigration and custom's enforcement has been without you a permanent director for a year and a half.

many republicans had supported the nomination until the president came out with his executive action on immigration last month. they don't like the fact that she will be in forcing that. another toughun, boney blingen, the president's choice for deputy secretary of state. he's also getting pushback from republicans. a slew of other nominations, as well, why the big push? because in just a few weeks when congress comes back, control goes to republicans and democrats will have a very hard time getting any confirmations through. >> >> casting more blame on the department of veteran affairs, saying the v.a. lied about treatment delays. the report found the agency only reviewed cases dating back to 2007, in the 1999 as it said publicly. the v.a. apologized, saying it was a mistake. >> the v.a. one of the largest

prescribers of open yet pain killers. >> the plan to stop deaths from pain killers include a plan. >> he's been addicted to heroin. >> shooting to heroin is like putting on a bandaid or brushing my teeth in the morning. >> heroin and prescription rope yes offer a similar addictive potential and risk of death by overdose. that's where the v.a. has a massive problem. 50% of its patients seek help for chronic pain, and that has helped make the v.a. the nation's largest prescriber of open yet pain killers. the united states consumes over 80% of the world's prescription opiates, making the v.a. the world's largest single prescriber of a medication linked to addiction and 16,000 overdoses a year. now a national group led by v.a. addiction specialists is developing a program that would give any veteran at risk of

abusing open yes and perhaps all veterans prescribed open yet pain killers another drug, as well. narcan, it can reverse and overdose from heroin or pills. >> one problem is that pain killers were in vented to treat acute pain. since the 1990's, pain killers like this have been prescribed as a standard means of treating chronic, long-term pain. the alternative therapies available at pain clinics like physical therapy, massage and acupuncture are more expensive and harder to come by. >> 50% of the people who come to v.a. ever chronic pain condition. if every single one of them needs to go to a multi-disciplinary pain clinic, that's a lot of care to provide. >> pain killers are credibly effective, so the v.a. isn't likely to stop prescribes them. because the v.a. has not cut the number of overdoses, narcan is a

crisis management tool. >> this is likened to an epi pen. >> the conversation is that the drug that comes from the v.a. can sometimes lead people into heroin. >> yes, but that certainly doesn't reduce our need to protect people. >> for boston, a nationwide narcan program candle arrive fast enough. >> i've lost a lot of friends to overdoses and they weren't some big addicts, but they were fathers and sons, brothers, best friends and to lose somebody like that because the government hasn't come around yet, it's ridiculous. >> 17 states now allow access to narcan to drought overdoses. attorney general eric holder is calling on more states to equip

first responders with the drug. >> bill cosby's wife breaking her silence. camille cosby supporting the comedian, calling him kind and generous. she said the media is reporting unsubstantiated claims, she said that unfairly victimize bill cosby. >> there be speculation that hackers that recently attacked sony punished the company for the upcoming release of the if i am, "the interview." >> the stars of the film are speaking out. >> even though a group called the guardians of peace has claimed responsibility for the sony attack, many believe north korea is the real culprit. they would not go that far in a radio interview, but agreed that sony's private information should stay that way. >> one day i'm like it's [bleep] for sure, man. the next day, i'm like it's no

way it's them, it seems too savvy of hollywood politics. >> that's seth rogan, speaking on syria's satellite radio's the howard stern show about the hacking scandal that's rocked sony entertainment. rogan's costar james franco agreed that whether or not north korea's anger at the movie is behind the hack is less willing than the media the willingness to report the information the hackers release. >> this information would be sitting on some obscure corner of the internet if it wasn't for these news articles. >> they stole movies, sony was able to pull those down, but can't legally say. >> don't use this information? >> yeah. >> a letter was sent to media outlets threatening media action if they print information released by the hackers without

sony's consent. stern thinks the white house should have stepped in. >> the president should have announced we're under attack, i expect the media, i'm not kidding, i expect the media to report this stuff. >> they are reselling, they're not doing anything illegal. they're not trying to fool you as the consumer. they're having private correspondence with one another, here, read it and pick it apart. >> sony entertainment held a town meeting with 6,000 of its employees monday as the massive cyber attack the company is enduring entered its fourth week. >> thank you. >> let's look at other stories caught in our global net. nasa finished construction on a to your in mississippi to test rockets, but they closed it when it was finished in june. the washington post say the program it was designed for was canceled back in 2010. nasa worked on something it

didn't need because of a congressional mandate. it's still going to take $700,000 a month to keep it up and running. >> that's a lot of wasted money and metal. >> mcdonald's in japan are slimming down portion sizes of french fries, but not for health reasons. the delivery of thousands of tons of frozen french fries has been delayed because of a port worker strike happening on the u.s. west coast. it's apparently more than doubling the transit times. >> it was once said sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear get you. yesterday we reported a high school student making $72 million by investing in the stock market. in an interview, the student admitted that none of what new york magazine reported was true, so don't follow him if you want stock tips. >> there's something wrong about a 9-year-old stock trader making millions. >> we wanted to believe you. >> sorry about that. >> a steep price declean at the

pump is making drivers cheer. >> for businesses, it could mean a lot of lost money. the impact falling prices could ever on the u.s. economy. >> what do humans and birds have in common? it's all about how we sing. that's one of today's discoveries. >> only on al jazeera america.

>> you are looking live in pakistan, night is falling there, and rescue efforts continue after an attack on a school. armed gunman killed more than 130 people, most of them children between the ages of nine and 16, and our reporter on the ground with military sources said that one gunman is still on the loose. officials say hundreds of students and teachers are still held hostage, more than 100 children have been wounded.

the defense correspondent for pakistan's g.o.t.v. was recently embedded with nato and pakistani forces fighting the taliban. he is on his way to the scene but joins us by phone on the journey. you have extensively covered the taliban's operations, what are you making of this school attack? >> i'm making that this was expected. the pakistani military for years has been criticized by it's counterparts across the border, nato and the u.s. for not doing enough to crack down on these militants who were holed up for years in tribal areas, some really bad, bad, bad lands. finally, when the political momentum and military itself went at it, and started a massive ground operation and air

campaign in this area this summer, 80,000 troops involved, some sort of retaliation was expected. just recently, from all over the country, the military's crackdown on al-qaeda elements, on taliban and the there was increasing chatter about some complex attack. the fact that it's hit at the heart of the military structure and hit military kids only underscores that this is retaliation and nothing else. >> this was not just a military facility, this was a school. in fact, it's been described by al jazeera's correspondent on the ground that this is the worst school attack in history. >> that's right. and a bunch of army brats went to the school and once again, it underscores especially if you read what the taliban are saying, you hit our families and now we're going to hit yours,

this goes on to emphasize that that is targeted clearly against the military, which for years was not budging from its position of hedging its bets and not targeting the taliban in this area, and now, with this massive op, they are striking back. the u.s. largely is pretty satisfied with the way the ground ops and air campaign has been conducted. mwraps, the vehicles which the pakistani military needed, 20 vehicles have been provided. they just concluded defense talks in washington where

funding in the norm of financial reimbursements have been solidified. the americans are satisfied with the pakistani momentum for disrupting the feared haquani network. a lot of this is relevant in the u.s., which has moved closer to pakistan because of the pakistani military actions, but the pakistanis on the ground, school kids are paying the price. >> we are learning that the sixth attacker, believed to be the last taliban attacker at the scene, is now dead. the rescue operations, though, continue. >> drivers have a reason to smile this morning as gas price continue to plunge. the national average is $2.52 a

gallon. it is down 40 cents from last month. in 13 states, gas is now selling for $2 a gallon. oklahoma, louisiana, and ohio actually selling regular for less than $1.90. a former top economist who teaches at the university of maryland joins us from washington, d.c. this morning. not all good news, why? >> it is drivers and business that is use oil like the airlines, their purchasing power is well over $100 billion a year. we need to subtract the lost revenues of the oil cross, the impact on the oil boom in north dakota and the lost investment. overall, it's a net benefit to the u.s. economy, $75 billion a year, half a percentage of g.d.p., a little less. that's good and we're happy about it, but this is not an

unvarnished good, because we are now a major oil producer. >> which prices thrive and which suffer? >> ire lines love it. g.e. makes a lot of oil field development equipment, and they're going to take a big hit on their earnings going forward. >> i'm looking now to update by stock portfolio, thank you very much. >> how long can the saudis hold out and will countries like venezuela be able to survive? >> the so you had rain is fairly wealthy country, and we don't know exactly how much the royal family has piled up, but you've got to remember, a lot of the oil wealth goes to a few people. there's a lot of poverty in saudi arabia. they can hold out a very long time. russia's another big one. the wealth is very concentrated, the population is very, very much behind putin. they can hold out a long time. somebody like venezuela, this is real trouble and can cause instability in venezuela,

nigeria, iran and to some extent, that's what saudi arabia wants. it's not just north american oil fields saudi arabia worries about. it worries about iran's political influence in the region. >> thank you for being with us this morning. we apologize for being short on time, but the situation in pakistan demands that sometimes times change. >> it is time for were you ever today's discoveries. it winds up humans have a lot in common with song birds. the gene that is help them sing are similar to the gene that is help us speak. researchers this week revealing the gee gnomes of 48 types of song birds. births progress from baby talk to complex vocalizations. i am losing my voice at this moment. >> the latest on the attack at the school in pakistan. >> scores of children have been killed by the pakistani taliban. what the government is saying about the attack. >> families in the sandy hook

massacre suing the gun manufacturer. we are talking about the chance for success in the courts. >> we are back in two minutes. stay with us. >> a deal went against they're own government >> egypt mismanaged it's gas industry >> taking the country to the brink of economic ruin >> this is because of a corrupt deal to an assigned to basically support two dodgy businessmen an israeli one, and an egyptian one... >> al jazeera exposes those who made a fortune betraying an entire nation >> you don't feel you owe an explanation to the egyptian people? >> no...no.. >> al jazeera investigates egypt's lost power on al jazeera america

>> a crisis on the border... >> thery're vulnarable... these are refugees... >> migrent kids flooding into the u.s. >> we're gonna go and see josue who's just been deported... >> why are so many children fleeing? >> your children will be a part of my group or killed... >> fault lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting...

>> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... fault lines no refuge: children at the border only on al jazeera america >> a deadly attack on a school in pakistan, 130 people killed, mostly children near the afghan border. the latest on the attack the prime minister calls a national tragedy. >> searching for answers, australians mourning, two hostages killed in that 16 hour standoff in sydney. the new details about the gunman and what may have triggered his actions. >> lawmakers finally say yes to president obama's nominee for

the surgeon general more than a year after his nomination. >> a growing number of americans giving up their passports and right to return home, saying so long to the u.s. >> welcome to al jazeera america. >> we continue to follow breaking news out of pakistan. officials have killed the last attacker behind the deadly siege on a military run school. more than 130 people are dead, most of them children between the ages of nine and 16. >> the pakistani taliban says it attacked a school in retaliation for military operations nearby. this is an unprecedented attack even by the pakistani taliban, who normally don't carry out civilian hits to this degree. >> they have attacked many schools in the past but not anything on the scale you've seen today. the group is fighting a vicious war trying to topping the government in pakistan and to set up a strict islamic state. they've stepped up attacks,

targets military bases abcheck points and airports. officials say attacks on civilian targets like this with no apparently logistical significance are relatively rare. it's been a few months since the taliban in pakistan made an attack as brazen as this. >> we ran towards classes. there were six or seven attackers and they were entering the classrooms and shooting students one by one. >> the army public school is run by that the military. it has 500 students and teachers. a spokesman for the pakistan taliban said our suicide bombers entered the school and ever instructions not to harm the children, but target the army personnel. he explained that the attack had been launched in revenge for the military's operation in north waziristan. this offensive started six months ago. the army wants to defeat the

pakistani taliban. it says it's killed more than 1800 fighters and destroyed camps and weapon stores. the campaign forced 700,000 people to leave their homes. they are staying in camps and renting apartments until the war is over. the last major operation by the pakistani taliban was the karachi airport attack in june. 36 people were killed, including 10 militants. targeting a school is unlikely to win the group much public support. motor people are backing the army's campaign against them. the pakistani taliban has struggled to stay united, split along tribal lines and punjab tribe has given up violence. clearly other parts of the organization ever not. >> malala yousafzai that addressed the attack, saying:

>> let's turn to our middle east correspondent, nick schiffron in jerusalem live right now. you spent a lot of years reporting in pakistan. you lived there. what's the significance of carrying out an attack on this city? >> it is the gateway to the pakistani tribal areas, the areas that border afghanistan. it is the large effort city for pakistans group of civilians who fill the city and fill the afghan and pakistani taliban. it is often targeted by those going after their own people, but this is unprecedented not only because it was this city, but because the level of carnage in the school. the notion that the pakistani spokesman saying to reporters that they were not supposed to attack anybody other than the army personnel, well, frankly,

this school is not an army school. there's not soldiers walking around it. it is affiliated loosely with the military. they knew exactly who was in there and that was children and they walked in and started firing, clearly designed to kill as many children as they could. >> are we seeing blowback? pakistan has been were you ever america's motor important and differ allies. they say they are working together to battle terrorism there. explain. >> i think that pakistan and the u.s. have been allied against again the pakistani taliban. the u.s. recently launched airstrikes alongment border, targeting pakistan's enemies, pakistani taliban. on the flip side, pakistan's intelligence service is accused of helping the afghan taliban, which are attacking adjustment soldiers in afghanistan, but pakistan's government, and its military has been associated with the united states for a long time, pack 17i taliban said

that's one of its motivations in attacking pakistani government and school institutions and also pakistani taliban say they are against girl's education and say this kind of school is legitimate. >> nick, thank you very much. >> let's turn to bibby in washington. good morning. what has been the u.s. response to the taliban attack today? >> no official statement from the white house yet. we have reached out and are awaiting comment, but the u.s. ambassador to pakistan, richard olson has put out a statement offering condolences and sympathies for what he's calling a who inous attack, the statement saying that the united states stands in solidarity with the people of pakistan and all who fight the menace of terrorism. few have suffered more at the hands of terrorists and extremists than the people of pakistan. going on in the statement,

saying it is essential the u.s. and pakistan continue to work together toward peace and stat in the region. >> to that end, secretary of state john kerry recently announced he hopes to visit pakistan in the new year. what can you tell us about attempts to increase cooperation at this point between the u.s. and pakistan? >> a spokeswoman for the secretary of state saying recently that he is eager to visit islamabad in the new year. officials say that the two countries planning strategic sessions together early in 2015 that will likely be timed with president obama's visit to india in january. >> libby casey for us in washington, thank you. >> coming up in 15 minutes, we'll have a live report from on the ground in pakistan and a former special agent in charge at ncis will break down what we saw happen this morning. >> in sydney, tributes continue to pour in for the victims of

the hostage standoff. >> police stormed a cafe, ending the siege. there are now several questions including why the attacker was not on a terrorist watch list. >> the morning after the siege ended and the streets around martin place are quiet. police have maintained a heavy presence here. commuters to work come to show their respects. many are asking how such a thing could ever happened in the heart of they are stay. >> i'm very, very confident in relation to this critical investigation that we have set up. we have extremely experienced investigators doing it. we are -- we will be in constant contact with the coroner. >> police stormed the cafe in the early hours of tuesday morning after hearing gunshots inside. two hostages were killed, along with the gunman.

man haron monis had begun the siege during the rush our monday morning, forcing hostages to stand against the windows and raise a flag bearing the islamic creed. police believe the man was infatuated to extremism and mentally unstable. >> these events demonstrate that even a country as free, as open, as generous and as safe as ours is vulnerable to acts of politically motivated violence. >> he did not have known political affiliations, but did have a history of violence and extremist views. in recent months, he'd been charged with sexual assaults on women. tell the of the siege, he was out on bail as a suspect in the death of his former partner. last year, he pleaded guilty to sending abusive letters to the families of australian soldiers killed in afghanistan. >> it was in that period that a meeting was organized between me

and him after i criticized him heavily and i explained to him directly that is a actions were unacceptable and he hung his head down and apologized at that time. >> the muslim community is working with the police in their investigation, but some fear a backlash from the wider community. early signs from sydney suggest many australians feel a sense of solidarity. al jazeera, sydney. >> that sense of solidarity went viral on social media, the hash tag i'll ride with you was those reaching out to muslims in their community afraid of backlash. >> iran's president saying they won't stand in the way of lifting any anxiouses. negotiators have set a june deadline trying to reach an agreement. >> police are searching for a killer in pennsylvania. >> the military veteran killed

six people in north philadelphia. police are not saying that these do not appear to be random attacks. >> they say stone is targeting his ex-wife's family. a deadly rampage was fueled by a custody battle in a contentious divorce. last week, the couple went before a judge for an emergency custody hearing. the violence began at the ex-wife's sister's home where he allegedly shot the sister, her husband and their 14-year-old daughter opinion the 7-year-old son was airlifted to the hospital. the shooting spree spread to two more towns where he murdered his former mortgage and her mother. he went to his ex-wife's apartment where he shot her to death in front of their two young girls. an eyewitness says he was seen taking the children with him. >> i asked him was everything ok. i saw the kids and the kids and

see father exiting the house. they didn't have coats on or anything, they just had their pajamas on. he just said we got to go. he was like she's hurt pretty bad, we have to leave. >> a short time later, the girls, ages eight and five, were found at a neighbor's house unharmed. friends say stone's ex-wife talked about how she felt threatened by him and feared for her life. stone is a former marine reservist suffering ptsd which is why he was discharged from the military. >> the obama administration this morning turning to the catholic church for help transferring detainees out of guantanamo bay. secretary of state john kerry make that go request during his meeting on monday. the u.s. is looking for humanitarian solutions for the detainees. today, the president meets with catholic officials at the white house. >> today's meeting comes as the vatican finally released long awaited report on american nuns. many expected the investigation to take issue with the sisters,

but it found they want greater recognition and support in their pastoral work. the authors called for continued autonomy for nuns to live according to the ideals of their orders. >> taking a look as whether ice is making its way east today. >> let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning. some northern parts of wisconsin and michigan are dealing with a few winter weather advisories left. parts of south dakota, over six inches of snow, right along the interstate 90 corridor, so there are still places piles are out this morning, trying to clear that up. you can see more of this now rain, because it's getting into an area with warmer air, even though the temperatures have definitely dropped behind this. that's our concern through the course of the day. this is the same storm system that brought stronger storms a couple of days ago. there's still a little bit of a line moving through the south with all of this, bringing showers, but really, the core of

this system is going to be to the north. already in the great lakes with that moisture. by this afternoon, moving through parts of the northeast and eventually into new england and lingering with a little snow on the backside tomorrow. more of that will be interior. temperatures have definitely cooled down behind us. highs in the 20's today, but some places with the wind behind all of this, the wind chill is feeling like it's in the single digits, even a couple of negatives out there this morning. >> brr, ok. >> the taliban now taking responsibility for the deadly attack on a school in pakistan. a former special agent in charge of ncis will join us. >> thousands of venezuelans taking to the streets to protest the u.s. the message they're send to go lawmakers in washington. >> a bad start to the workday for some commuters doesn't have anything to do with rush hour. that video and others captured by our citizen journalists

around the world.

>> police in germany arresting 18 people during a massive anti islam demonstration. 15,000 people took part in that anti immigration cam brian a storm including a small tornado, bringing high winds and large hail. >> a bad day, terrible day for drivers in australia this morning, a burst water main led to a sinkhole that swallowed three cars. three homes were flooded. >> we're continuing to follow breaking news out of pakistan. officials ever killed the final attacker who went off the a school overnight. the pakistani taliban killed 130 people at a military run school. the pakistani taliban said it attacked for retaliation.

>> this attack on school children even beyond the pale for the taliban. >> it is. in 2013, it was a bad year for pakistan. this attackness numbers now would exceed even the biggest attack of the last year, though carried out by a different group. consistently, though, the taliban movement of pakistan and other groups have targeted schools, though. it's been within it's main tarts. >> a taliban spokesperson said this was in retaliation. there was a reported u.s. drone strike on a pakistani taliban compound in north waziristan. what does the u.s. have to do with the pakistani government's fight against the taliban.

>> it's been one of those complex situations where all those ingredients are at play. the pakistani government with the military and their other security forces have been engaged in really serious fighting in the federally administered tribal areas in north waziristan in particular, because the political process has fallen apart and gone to fighting. the u.s. consistently for a number of years have been going after targeted related to those that would attack coalition forces in afghanistan from pakistan, as well as al-qaeda and affiliated targets. you have swirling factors that just create for a violent situation. >> are you concerned that with this attack and yesterday's attack in australia, you see all these groups, taliban, boko haram, al-qaeda, are they trying to 1-up each other? >> although separate and

distinct for the most part exempt one thing, the bain ladennism is the common threat through all those groups. where you are northern nigeria, boko haram wanting to show its international flavor in cross border attacks, some other groups same things. in sinai, a recent alliance with theistic state wanting to show -- >> hitting soft targets like school children, is that a sign they are getting weber? >> in some ways, we have said that. it is, it's a desperation and a sign of weakness, however, the soft target, though, is definitely the thing. >> this was not exactly a soft target. this was a school run by the military. is it possible that there was an insider who pull this off, or is that military school just not as secure as we would imagine say west point. >> that's a real good frame of reference, even though it is a military and government school, they know the turf, they know

the area. the city is right within the heart of where a movement like the taliban pakistan movement exists, so not necessarily insider, we don't have enough information at the time but they know the playing field. >> is the united states doing enough to protect us from these so-called lone wolf attacks and hardening sort of targets here in the u.s.? >> on any given day, it's an extraordinary challenge to go after -- to not only find the needle, but find all the hey stacks. you take what happened in australia yesterday, tragically in sydney, you have an individual with no known affiliation to any group, gang, movement, by himself, so where you have a situation like that, it makes it more difficult. is the united states doing enough? if we look at our situation here in manhattan with the increased presence, the security and intelligence aspect definitely there, definitely strong, but it continues to be a challenge.

>> thank you so much for your insights this morning, good to see you. >> in mexico, a creative tribute to the 43 teachers and college students who vanished in september. children and duties flying 43 kites featured photos of the missing children. police are accused of arresting the group and handing them over to a drug cartel. >> thousands of venezuelans taken to the streets in caracas were protesting u.s. sanctions. the marsh was odors by the countries socialist governments. many in red were in sport of nicolas maduro. >> america has a surgeon general this morning for the first time in a year and a half. that confirmation was delayed by political fighting and the nominee's own views. why is murphy's confirmation historic? >> it has been long in the

waiting, but it is a historic moment, because he's 37 years old, making dr. murphy the youngest surgeon general and he's the first to be america's top doctor of indian descent. this has been a lengthy process. that despite the fact that he was educated at harvard, and yale. he works in internal medicine and is an educator and has the support of groups like the american pediatric group, the american academy of pediatrics. as you pointed out, politics has held up the confirmation process for more than a year. >> i was getting ready to say he sounds so qualified, so why the long stalemate. >> well, a couple of things. he was one of the organizers and founders of a group called doctors for obama which later became doctors for america, republicans concerned about that political involvement, but the big focus has been on his work and vocal outcries against guns and speaking up for gun control. here's a tweet that he wrote two

years ago: >> that has raised the ire of republicans, even though dr. murphy has told members of congress that emfocus on battling obesity as surgeon general, not gun control. the confirmation was still a squeaker yesterday. only one republican supported him and three democrats from red pro gun states like west virginia voted against him. >> congress about to take a break, that holiday recess. what's left before they go? >> two very high profile nominations. the penalty's pick for ice, sarah sole sodania.

she will implement the penalty's immigration order. >> another nominee, the president's choice for deputy secretary of state. there's also a slew of other nominations that the white house really wants to get through in these last hours of this year, because as soon as congress comes back in january, it will be controlled by republicans in both the senate and house. the senate being the big one, since that controls nominations. >> libby, thank you very much. >> believe it or not, more rain is in store for an already soaked west coast. nicole mitchell has more. >> we're getting a little break in between systems right now, but we already have some of the winter storms advisories, winter weather advisories up for places like sierras. this is one of the beneficial sides of the story. the snow pack has mush roomed

the area, that is great, because in the spring, that's more moisture available for agriculture and in a desperately dry situation, that's good news. right now, in between one system, you can see the next moving its way onshore, giving us a lot of relief, break in the action. we are getting rain by tomorrow. you can see the next system start to go move in. it moves through and looks like something is brewing up behind all of that. we've been in a much more active pattern, none of these storms having the volume of rain that we had with one of our previous storms that just caused all that flooding concern. this one, central parts of california and along the coastline, one to three inches with the next rain that we see through the day tomorrow. that's more manageable rain and it helps with the drought situation. >> it is taking a dent out of the drought. >> slowly, but, yes. >> the taliban taking responsibility for that deadly attack on a school in pakistan. we'll have the very latest on the siege, with team coverage

from around the world. >> going after the gun maker, our legal contribute aror addresses the lawsuit suing the companies manufacturing the weapons used in that massacre.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. ahead in this next half hour, a record number of americans living abroad are giving up their u.s. citizen ships. we'll talk about the role that a new tax is playing in a rather major decision. >> google reveals the top searches for 2014. the late celebrity that took the top spot. >> first, a look at our headlines this morning. in pennsylvania, police are trying to find a man who shot and killed six on monday. the victims were relatives of bradley with my stone, including his ex-wife. a 17-year-old was critically wounded. the rampage was fueled by a custody battle. >> australia in mourning two victims today in yesterday's hostage siege on a cafe. police raided it 16 hours after

man haron monis took captives. prime minister aboth said he was not on a terror watch list. >> in pakistan, officials say the siege is over at a military run school. 130 were killed when the pakistani taliban attacked, most of the dead children. the taliban said it attacked that school in retaliation for military operations nearby. john has been tracking the story for us. what is the latest that we are hearing? >> the latest is just in the last few seconds, as you just announced, that the siege is form ally over. they had one gunman holed up that they couldn't get to, now have gotten to him. although the taliban targeted schools in the past, nothing like the scale that weaver seen overnight. it's been a few months since they launched an attack anywhere near as brazen as this, in the city which is the gateway to afghanistan, where the u.s. puts

material into when it wants to transport it into afghanistan. six armed men entered the school. there were exams underway. one eyewitness telling al jazeera that when the firing started, they ran towards their classes. there were six or seven attackers and they were picking off students one by one. the school as we were saying earlier is army military school. it's not actually run by the military, but is very closely asserted with it. it has 500 students and teachers and the pakistan taliban said they sent their people in with an instruction not to harm the children. >> we're starting to get international reaction. >> the ambassador to pakistan said the united states condemns the attacks on students. malala yousafzai is saying i'm heartbroken by the senseless and cold blooded act of terror that

is unfolding before us. innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this. >> let's go to the reporter on the scene. the last attacker has been killed. what are your military sources saying they are doing now? >> they are saying that the sixth attacker has been killed, however, they are still mopping up the area, because there were reports of improvised explosive devices that were led, perhaps even booby traps. there were still no indication how many military personnel were killed. most of the dead are children. the operation is still on, the area has to be declared cleared before anybody can go in. >> pakistan's prime minister is

at the scene now. what has he been saying? >> pakistani's prime minister has killed this a national tragedy. he has come to oversee the operation conducted by the pakistan military. this started in the morning and still has not ended entirely, took everybody by surprise. nobody expected such a deadly attack to take place on a school full of children. >> in the last hour, we interviewed a journalist who says he was not particularly surprised by this. you've been covering pakistan for decades now. have you seen anything on this scale before by the taliban?

>> well, there have been attacks on mosques, there have been attacks in which children have been killed. there is no denying that, however, an attack on this scale in such a cold-blooded manager is unprecedented. this is possibly the worst attack that has taken place in pakistan, although as i mentioned, thousands of people, according to some estimates, over 50,000 people have been killed in the past decade because of the violence related to the fighting between taliban in afghanistan and pakistan. >> that's important context for us, thank you. >> let's go now to our middle east correspondent, nick schiffron in jerusalem. nick, you have also spent some years living and reporting from pakistan, and the u.s. and pakistan have a special and growing relationship after years of mistrust, following the death of osama bin laden.

what is the u.s. role in aiding pakistan in its fight against the taliban? >> despite that troubled history, as you said, the u.s. has turned its efforts or some efforts towards helping the pakistani military fight the pakistani taliban. that means sending weaponry through the border area. many targets have been senior pakistani military officials. the second thing is adjustment drones run by the c.i.a. until recently, for years, those drones targeted only militants who were targeting u.s. troops in afghanistan. the u.s. started targeting pakistani taliban. that continues to a certain extent and there is coordination when it comes to those drone strikes. >> there were reports on december 7 of a u.s. drone stake

in waziristan. does the u.s. drive down of troops have impact against the pakistani taliban? >> a large scale of attacks in response to the draw down means that afghanistan becomes less stable and that really worries pakistan. when we see pakistan get worried, it starts not only to deal with pakistani taliban in the tribal areas, but moves into afghanistan and helps to destabilize afghanistan. what pakistan wants to see and what the u.s. wants to see is a stable kabul which helps islamabad be more stable. >> a senior advisor to president

obama representatives for pakistan and afghanistan and currently the dean of the johns hopkins international studies school in baltimore. why do you think this time it was a schooling targeted and what does this mean about the taliban's goals? >> i think partly, the taliban is sending a message that they are likely to be as violent and vicious as the imagination can hold. also, there's a message that militaries might have attacked civilians in the north waziristan area, so they treat this as a tit for tat. this goes beyond hitting military civilian police and deliberately targeting civilians in this fight. >> what will be the blowback against the taliban in pakistan? >> the blow back will be public opinion.

some in pakistan have been sympathetic to the taliban, it will make it more difficult for them to argue a case of reconciliation with the taliban. the biggest advantage for the military would be began have a nicing pakistani public opinion behind a crackdown on the taliban in that opinion. >> will there be blowback against the united states? the pakistan-u.s. relationship has been truly. what is the u.s. role in aiding pakistan in its fight against the taliban? >> i don't think there will be blowback against the united states. it makes the united states case against pakistan that extremists are a danger to global security. it's difficult for pakistani public to be critical of american operations against the taliban in pakistan. the taliban have not done themselves a favor at this

point. >> it was said hitting these soft targets like schools are in indication that groups are getting desperate. do you share that view? >> not necessarily. they want to send a message that they can go after anybody at any time and make all pakistani's feel insecure and military helpless in providing security to its population. that's the message. it's not that they couldn't go after a harder target. they wanted to go after this tarts in order to drive a point home. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> back here in the united states, it has been two years since the massacre at sandy hook elementary school. the families are suing the weapons manufacturer used in the attack. >> it opens up a new legal chapter in a gun debate. >> 26 died in less than five minutes. now two years later, families of nine victims are filing an unusual legal challenge,

claiming adam lanza wouldn't ever killed so many people if he didn't have this kind of rifle, a semiautomatic. the complaint names three main defendants, the manufacturer, the distributor and river view gun sales. >> i have about 2,000 rounds through it. >> the lawsuit says it was designed as a military weapon but the defendants have marketed the gun and sold it to selfens. the suit alleges in order to continue profiting from the sale, defendants chose to disregard the unreasonable risks the rifle posed outside of specialized highly regulated institutions like the armed forces and law enforcement. >> cleaning up loopholes. >> some families appeared at the news conference to support laws to curb gun violence. >> this is going to take time, but it's worth it, because every day that we proceed is hopefully

another life saved and that's the goal to keep focused on. >> if you don't have were you ever these, your home is not really complete. >> according to a nationwide survey, public opinion is turning against stronger gun controls. for the first time in more than two decades, it was found more americans support gun ownership rights over gun control. this marks a big shift since after the new town shooting when less than half surveyed supported gun rights. sometime the families say without more gun control, they'll keep landing in the hands of criminals and people who are mentally unstable. >> the families are seeking youngstersified monetary damages but also say in the complaint they want accountability. i reached out to the three main companies named in the lawsuit. none of them responded. >> we are joined by our legal

contributor. >> the families have to prove the manufacturer should have known the weapon would have wound up in the hands of someone who wanted to kill a lot of people and that -- >> the mother actually bought the gun. does that make a difference. >> makes a huge difference. the law looks at intervening causes. the cause is the mom, the person who sold the gun also named in the lawsuit. then of course, land does a's mental illness and lanza himself is an intervening actor, so it's a very difficult cause of action, but not without some precedent. >> the lawsuit claims that bush martyr should ever known that it is a weapon of choice in mass shootings. is that a plausible argument? >> it is, a good factual argument for them to make, and i think that they have some legal ground to stand on. now there are some, if i may,

precedents. yesterday on al jazeera, i discussed this a little bit with tony and i said i didn't think there were precedents and there aren't strong precedents here, but are some. the sister company is currently being sued. there's a class action. it's a little different, about defective safeties on a similar rifle. that's different, you are not talking about the actions, you are talking about the gun malfunctioning, but there was a big shooting at a. >> irv community center. i covered that case extensively, and there, they tried to sue, the judge threw it out. that's a precedent that doesn't bode well. he said you can't prove causation because of all the reasons you suggest. remember the d.c. sniper? bush master, this same defendant was sued and they settled that case. >> interesting. >> settling suggests that they recognize they might not win in court. >> that is very interesting, that precedent. a lot of people have been saying this is going to be an uphill

legal battle. short of a settlement, at what point are the families trying to make. >> these families say they won't settle. the point they're trying to make is a public policy point. instead of every year, laying down wreaths and flowers and having a ceremony to keep this story alive, we're going to make a point, after 24 months, nothing happened on the nothing level. >> they never got the gun control they were in washington pour months lobbying for. >> we thought after all these young babies died and of course six duties, there would finally be action, the families say on gun control, at least insofar as background checks for people with mental illness and other alarming things in their background, so now maybe we can get national attention through this litigation. >> there's the second amendment

right which they face. >> which they say they believe in but with limitations. >> thank you so much. del. >> lawmakers urging president obama this morning hit russia with new sanctions. democrats and republicans on monday asked the president to sign off on new legislation, penalizing russian defense companies and providing military assistance to ukraine. russia is promising it will respond. >> the sanctions seem to be having an effect in russia, now boosting interest rates in hopes of bolstering the ruble, hitting new lows on monday. it is know worth a little more than a penny compared to the u.s. dollar. the hike is the largest single rate increase since 1998. >> a record number of americans living abroad are giving up their citizenship. >> they're surrounding passports trying to avoid taxes. we take a deeper look. >> would you give up your citizenship to avoid paying

taxes? thousands of americans are doing just that, giving up their passports in record numbers in order to avoid paying a new tax as part of the foreign account tax compliance act. the critics say it has caused a three fold increase in the number of americans surrendering their passports. between 2010 and 2013, 7,246 americans renounced their citizenship. that's compared to 1,721 in the four ears prior to the law. created in 2010 by congress, it was initially in tended to crack down on overseas tax cheats. in fact, the congressional research service projected it would generate $8.7 billion over 10 years. it imposes a 30% tax on americans who have money in foreign banks that aren't cooperating with the i.r.s. those are banks in countries that refers to identify and

provide information on their american clients. critics say it has gone too far, is too draconian and imposing hardships on those overseas. >> it's causing heartaches and headaches around the world, not only for foreign financial institutions, but for overseas americans who are now being treated as pariahs, because they are viewed as being very, very costly to service. >> faced with a larger tax bill, thousands of americans living overseas would rather give up their passports than pledge allegiance to uncle sam. even the i.r.s. reported that: >> the united states is one of the few countries to have extra

territorial taxation, so an american living and working in another country is required to pay taxes to the country they live and file a tax return to the u.s. no other civilized country does that. >> for an increasing number of u.s. citizens, holding on to a bigger share of their money has become more important than holding their american passport. >> one of the most high profile individuals to give up his citizenship, facebook's cofounder, announced it just ahead of the countries i.p.o., now a citizen of singapore. >> australians are coming together, taking to social media to stop a backlash against muslims. >> we weigh in on a rush to judgment in incidents like this. >> the director of disney's frozen helping parents let go of

acre towards the film's song. >> australians still trying to comprehend the deadly end of the hostage siege in sydney. >> one offers this assessment: >> who's behind those words, next.

>> who have said the tragedy of these times is that there are people even in a society such as hours who wish to do us harm. we are not immune to the politically motivated violence. >> prime minister tony abbot, speaking on the probe into the deadly siege at cafe. >> remembering the two hostages

killed in the siege on the cafe. an investigation is underway into whether police or the culprit man haron monis killed them. police raided the cafe after 16 hours. prime minister tony abbot said man haron monis was not on a terrorist watch list. >> australia's tweeting i'll ride with you, those tweeting said that they would share public transportation with muslims, many fearing backlash since the attacker was a muslim. you've written about the u.s. immediate he i can't, saying it all but ends questions about a suspect when they learn the gunman was a muslim. did the media do a better job yesterday? >> i think they did, but not intentionally. they didn't have reporters on the ground in australia, they took the news from australia saying that he had mental

problems. that colored it differently. in canada, when the american media found out it was a muslim, that ended the investigation. in australia, a whole picture of the man was painted, had history of mental disorders and i'm not saying don't talk about that he's muslim. that's one component. >> you gave the prime minister high marks yesterday. >> he tried to make it a full picture of this man. he had a history of extremism. >> why did he do that? what makes australia different? >> i'm not sure it's different, but they come at the issue from the point of view that we want our people to know what was the motivation of this person and we're not simply going to say because he's muslim, we're done, forget it, that's it. in america, if a person commits a horrible act and they're not muslim, we do a full workup, like adam lance doe lanza.

we don't hear that from muslims. the plumb shin is if you're muslim, you can't be insane and something is a jihadi plot. it's not that simple. >> there are muslims who are radicals. that's life. we can't pretend there's not. the key to police work is community based relations, building alliances, not making the muslim community your adversary. in new york city, the policies have been changed. there is less profile and we are working together. that's the way you combat raysicallism. having people go that guy scares me, the guy in australia was not part of a mainstream mosque.

>> the twitter ride with me, good step in the right direction. >> that was i'll ride with you on the bus or train, not let you be verbally abused or attacked. in america, we have a problem. 60% of americans never met a muslim. they don't have a muslim friend. i'll be their muslim friend, because you want people to have that -- >> i would be your friend if you didn't wear tennis shoes with suits. >> nature put on a dazzling display with a meteor shower. these images out of china. it is from an extinct comet. >> robin williams was the most popular search of 2014. he took his own life and became the top trending item of the

year. world cup was the second most popular search, ebola third. how to air drop was the top trending phrase of the year. that refers to wirelessly sharing files between apple devices. >> the director of frozen said she's sorry, sorry about creating one of the most catchy but some would say annoying songs of all time. ♪ >> i can't get enough of it, those three words getting on parents nerves after a year on repeat. the director said she has sympathy for parents who can't stand the song anymore. the movie has become the fifth highest grossing film of all time, actually. >> i went through it with others, you name it, they sing it. let's get another check of the forecast. let it go. >> that's one of the most parodied songs on you tube.

places where you are going to be letting it snow, we've got more of that coming down in wisconsin, michigan this morning, most of this now getting into a little sector where it's warmer air, so it's going to be rain moving through the great lakes and eventually into the northeast later today. the front with all that behind, cold air definitely coming in. you've got the contrast with places behind this in the 20's, minneapolis, chicago starting to drop into the 40's. washington, d.c., even in the morning near 54. today and tomorrow before that starts to 30 green coming up in two minutes from doha, much more on the deadly attack in pakistan that left at least 130 people dead. >> stay with us throughout you the day for the latest on this developing story and complete analysis tomorrow morning right here on aljazeera america. >> that's it for us here in new york. >> a look at the images of the day, winter arriving in india. >> several inches of snow

marking the year's first snowfall. tourists were enjoying the powder. >> we'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. set your clock.

taliban gunmen attack a school in pakistan. 130 are dead, most of them children. ♪ hello, i'm david foster, you are watching al jazeera, live from doha. also coming up, australia remembers after the cafe siege. >> the tragedy of these times is that they are a our people, even in a society such as ours, which wish to do us harm. and moscow pushes interest rates to 17% to