>> good afternoon. we want to keep you updated on the weather impact in the northeast. still pushing through parts of new england we're dealing with snow. we've had impressive snow totals. some places like boston almost two feet of snow. isolated parts especially of massachusetts have seen as we get a little further to the north become three feet of snow. that's definitely been impressive. with that we're still seeing all the areas that are going to see the advisories until 8:00 tonight. then it will taper off in the overnight hours. that will include some coastal

flooding. some gusts in the 40 mph range in places like maine and wind chills in some cases are below zero. we'll have a full update on this storm and more in the complete news coming up in an hour. >> a high-level of delegates includes the president of the united states paid tribute to president abdullah. president salman is the "inside story." >> be hello i'm ray suarez. the american relationship with the modern saudi arabia has

always been, to put it politely, complicated. the u.s. has sold some of its most advance weapon systems and trained saudis in their use and at other times support saudis military as it went against israel u.s.' closest ally. saudi arabia has spread vast sums of money across the muslim world building mosques hiring clerics, and distributing educational materials all in the growth of a strain of fundamentalist arabs. and at the same time saudi arabia has been willing in the gulf war to apply with the united states. to expel iraq from kuwait, and to support the overthrow of the

so-called islamic state. friend foe necessary ally, how have successive u.s. governments looked at saudi arabia? >> president obama and first lady michelle obama arrived in riyadh saudi arabia, and were greeted by the new king himself they came to pay respects to the late king abdullah, and then the new king salman abdulaziz. the u.s. has a long history of friendship with saudi arabia, but two challenges still lay ahead. sometimes we have to balance our need to speak with them about human rights issues with the immediate concerns we have in terms of countering terrorism or dealing with the regional stability, the president said, but the trendline is one that i'll sustain throughout the rest of my presidency, and that is to make an argument to those

friends and allies of ours that if they want a society that is going to be able to sustain itself in this age, then they're going to have to change how they do business. while obama stop over was brief it under scores the importance of the saudi relationship to the united states as the u.n. confronts isil and iraq and syria and deals with rivalries conflicts and instability in the region including next door yemen. this time on inside story with the death of the saudi king and the succession of another aging brother, a look at u.s. ties with this complicated country as top american officials meet with the new king. let's start with al jazeera senior washington correspondent

mike viqueira. why did the president cut short the visit with the indian prime minister. >> saudi arabia, a country that president obama described as key to a very complicated group of nations. that might be an understatement. he tut cut short his visit. he was going to be sightseeing visiting the taj mahal. he has a habit of having to cut short these trips to asia. but if he had done that, and this had gone forward, and he had not been in saudi arabia with this incredibly large american delegation, there are stars of administration past and present, eyebrows would have been raised. if he had gone forward with the original plan and send vice

president joe biden the president and the vice president would have been out at the same time. and yes the president's absence at the paris march at the charlie hebdo march was a factor in this decision. make no mistake, it's a big deal. the white house sending a very big importance to this relationship. >> what is happening? >> i had been with the president in the last trip last year and tacked on the end of the tip was riyadh. the saudis were upset after the p5+1 talks. isil now saudi planes are

flying in the american-led coalition. the saudi's disappointment from president obama from backing away from the red line that he himself drew after bashar al-assad the president of syria, had deployed those chemical weapons and killing innocent civilians the president backing away, deferring to congress. nothing came of it, the weapons were destroyed and that deal was struck with russia. the saudis were very upset. the relationship has been amend to a certain degree, and the word that is used is looking for continuity in the relationship. >> the talks with iran continue. >> right. >> fitfully at times but they continue. the fight against isil is still to be determined, but america seems all in in syria. where are the two countries still really far apart? >> well, i think obviously the israeli-palestinian conflict

remains a sore point. with everything going on, this is still the fundamental issue in the middle east, and probably in the bilateral relationship with the united states and saudi. interestingly on the economic side officials say after this meeting today they did not speak to the two leaders specifically about oil prices but they did speak about oil stability within the energy sector itself. which is basically the same thing. they did not talk about the price at the bump at the neighborhood gas station but this move to keep up production, to keep the price of a barrel of oil at almost record lows given the rate of inflation now. a lot of people look at that and wonder what the saudis are up to trying to push marginal players in the long game, and pushing margin marginal players many operating in the united states trying to push them out and put the squeeze on them and make it unprofitable for them to

produce oil. the saudis keep going and then the price of oil goes back up. they're playing a very complicated game on the energy sector. >> there is a good example. it's one of those times that everybody talks about the close relationships. >> right. >> the alliance. but here's the saudis with this very aggressive play, and making american production in places like the balkans simply less profitable. >> right but there are areas where there are public plans of cohesion. saudis agreed to do that on their territory. there are still a lot of hoops to be jumped through to get it up and running. it's not up and running at this point. as far as we know there are none of those rebels training on saudi territory but that is something that they agree on, nonetheless. but there are sharp differences

going on intact ticks in the fight against isil. the saudis want to see the u.s. take a more forthright action. they're trying to get permission-to-get man pad missiles up to the syrian opposition they need the united states permission to do that, and so far that has not been forth coming. >> thank you. that's mike viqueira. when we come back, who is king salman? more on the sucks session and succession and leadership. stay with us. it's inside story.

>> this is inside story on al jazeera america. i'm ray suarez. as saudis mourn the death of king abdullah. the two corinthians often see eye to--the two countries often see eye to eye but often don't.

you heard mike viqueira's overview of the visit. you were our man in riyadh for four years. did that basically scan with what you know of the place and doing business with the two countries? >> absolutely. the first issue is offering condolence. it's a wonderful tradition in that part of the world. three days of condolence after the passing. the fact that you've brought a delegation that goes back four different presidencies, people that knew king abdullah sends a very powerful signal of respect and i'm sure that was embraced and treasured by the people there. there are substantive issues to talk about. not just between the president and king salman, but other members of the delegation be they on the defense side, the intelligence community and also members of congress that get a

say and the relationship as well. so i think it was a very powerful signal. >> are these two countries really friends? or given the state of play in the world do they simply need each other and get pushed into each other's arms. >> i think it's a great friendship between the saudi monarchy and the u.s. government absolutely. they have divergent interests but if you look at the country that got a lot of american troops sent and wage wards in the middle east on its behalf was saudi arabia. two tours in iraq, and attacks on houthis where the ambassador, he's very familiar with that. it happened during his term. and even against the population, the u.s. supported monarchy

efforts against its opponent inside the country. and of course in the region as well. i think it's a mutual relationship. beneficial for the monarchy. >> but do the people of saudi arabia perceive it the same way. when you say the monarchy, that takes in thousands and thousands of people because of the long extended family of the clan. but if we were to stop in a mall in riyadh and talk to people who were just shopping, how do they feel with the united states? the way the people in the saudi cabinet do? >> people in the country are fearful of expressing their feelings because they may end up in court and prison for many years. but if you look at the government forces from 1965 to

now, the american relationship has been pleasing. the u.s. has supported more weapons to the saudi arabia than anything else. there is crisis of housing in saudi arabia. 80% of the people don't own a home in this country because because they did not push housing, healthcare or university education. schools. so the priority of the monarchy is not a priority of human rights. >> do oil shape the relationship in ways that we relate to the

saudis different finance any other similarly situated country. >> a perhaps but i traveled to all 14 provinces in saudi arabia. >> there are 13 provinces. >> i can't comment on everyone, but i will tell thought the saudi people are among the most warm hospitable people on the face of the earth. i had a very strong sampling in my travels where i missed the warmth of that population towards the united states. they have a great capacity to separate political views and geopolitical decisions from america and americans. they will travel to america. they'll vacation here notwithstanding fundamentally different positions than the u.s. government on things like palestine.

saudi arabia has been in the eye of the storm for four years now. that's a challenge to the east, it's a challenge to the south and not just the houthies but yemen has been a challenge for 50 years. and then al-qaeda to the north for many years and now daesh is formed. in many ways saudi arabia feels surrounded in the eye of the storm. that's a part of it, but we don't import that much oil from saudi arabia to the united states. our role in this as a strategic role and guarantee the flow of energy to europe and asia, our allies there who are dependent. >> because of its keystone nature, flanked as it is by israel and other middle eastern countries, the gulf countries and yemen some of them very problematic places, do they get

slack in their internal dealings that we wouldn't give to other countries. do we stay mum on some things that we would be very up front about with other nations. >> this is not about human-- human rights organizations do a wonderful job. the challenge is how do you deal with them? what we found is on human rights issues you're better dealing with them privately. and awhile hostand a whole host of issues, women's rights, this was going on all the time. the fact that it wasn't visible

in the press not public, notwithstanding it doesn't mean that the government was not focused on these issues. >> you're shaking your head. >> i disagree. i take the saudi school text book issue. in 2011 before september 11th, i was told we would do this privately. i came ten years after that, and i said you have done this for ten years in this private diplomacy. the result--zero. this is really an excuse a figure leaf to say that we do this privately. i know for you fact after booking here for 14 years in washington and having connections with activists and u.s. government officials there is no such thing. >> let me stop you there. i want people to understand what you're talking about. these are text books. >> saudi government enforceed text books on all the population. >> what was the problem that you were trying to bring to the state department. >> it's a state text book.

it disparages all religions and faiths and shows what isil is teaching it's people. we erase this, the way it calls for the murder of every jewish person on earth the hatred of christians and classifying other muslims as apostate who should die. animosity with the world. that text book has not changed. i have the 2015 school books. >> you're aware of this problem. >> we work at it every year, but i will tell you that we've got 100 saudi students studying here in the united states. so either they're not paying attention to this in school or it's not working. because >> but you concede it's a tiny percentage of students who become students in the west.

>> about 10% yes. having said that we're continually focused with the saudi government focus on the agenda to the exclusion to everything else. and that has bred a sense of intolerance to many challenges in the region, but i will not dismiss the state department's effort over these years. >> we'll be back with nor "inside story" after a short break. we know we come back we'll continue the theme. can the instincts and chess moves from the end of the ottoman empire to the digital stage protect its border. is being rich going to be enough? stay with us.

>> we're back on "inside story" on al jazeera america. i'm ray suarez. the death of king abdullah, the arrival of king salman and the pressures on the region this time on the program. what should the americans know about king salman. >> king salman is a very strong practitioner of politician in saudi arabia, since age 19. he was governor of riyadh. he has a gift for remembering and knowing people. the problem is that he's 80 years old. i don't think his health is going to be very well. he has alzheimer's disease.

it's an early on set of alzheimer's. johns hopkins has treated and is on his team. this has raised a problem the fact that he's going to be a figure head at this age. there are two really power centers in the country. these two are going to be the decider of saudi domestic and foreign policy. >> as part of transition, they've already named a crown prince. so we know in affect if he lives who the next king is going to be. is it important that we know the

crown prince. they have sent a very powerful signal to the population that they're ready to move to the next generation. >> is it important to signal that there is not going to be an unleashed fight for succession among the many sons in the next generation? >> i think it was important in this transition that king salman sent a signal to his population of stability over the top of the last 30 years. itit's important to understand prince muqrin. he went to college in

montgomery alabama. he served as governor for several years before becoming head of intelligence, and then was replaced and was on the royal court next to king abdullah the last few years. we have affable person, very connected to people as was king abdullah. so i think we'll find in prince muqrin a very incredible successor. >> are there pressures on the saudi society for modernization of social relations? there are threats in a big ring all around the country. this is a tough time to be running saudi arabia, isn't it? >> we heard this story before. during the arab evolution, they are under threat, and because of that we cannot give any rights

to the people. it's not time now as they say in arabic, we nothing happens. nobody moves. nobody say anything. that's the saudi style. i have met muqrin one-on-one. he is not going to be a strong leader. king abdullah had used him to fill the third place as a place holder. that didn't work. he's going to be really a nominal figure because now the power now that the guy who will run the power is mohammed bin nayef. he'll have a shot to be king all the defense minister and national guard. and especially now that the u.s. has been delaying the national guard acquisition of planes. that's what abdullah wanted, to stop that from happening. what i'm saying the region has

been values unstable, but a lot of that is due to saudi intervention. in yemen in iraq, with thousands of saudis going to go in to fight with violent groups. same with syria. a lot of this is a product of the saudi monarchy very tactful and smart-- >> ambassador, we're almost out of town. has saudi arabia in the recent past created regional problems. i wanted to get there before we sign off. >> i think there is plenty of blame to go around. you can look at the saudi advancement of their agenda, a very confidentiality unyielding not willing to acknowledge any other interpretation of islam. >> we have to continue this conversation.

ambassador good to have you. ali al ahmed. good to see you. this is the end of this edition. in washington, i'm ray suarez. very few people get up in evil. what evil can i do today? >> he wrote the epic novel, a song of fire and ice, the basis for the hbo series "game of thrones" now in its fourth season, george r.r. martin is working fotin issue the series. >> there are days i wonder if i bit off more than i could chew. did it have dotcoms? >> his characters are often consumed with power struggles making them blind to the greater