Also took hostages. The school is run by the Pakistani Military with students in grades one through 10. Peshawar has been the target of attacks. They said they attacked the school because the pakistani government is attacking families. Amin, theres been a period of peace, relative peace in this area for the past few months. Taliban has promised retribution for attacks the pakistani government has launched. No one could imagine retribution would come in this form. Tell us about the ongoing struggles with the taliban inside pakistan . Reporter its a decadesold conflict since pakistan got a foot hold in that part of the country. Right now the Pakistani Military has been trying to go on a counter offensive, trying to break up the strongholds in that area. Breaking up the taliban said it would fight back and today we saw the kind of action they carried out. Very deadly and ugly attack. More importantly targeting a school that was run by the military. This was a school that essentially was providing education to the children of military personnel as well as civilians. The operation is still ongoing as we under but it gives you a sense of the barbaric action in this part of afghanistan. A politically motivated attack in this case. Weve talked before about the killing about the Wedding Party in jordan how that was a turning point in western iraq in 20062007. I wonder how does the taliban launch an attack against children in this region and not lose overwhelming support in that region . You know, pakistanis and i speak a throat the pakistanis, they reject the taliban. The problem is about the capacity of the government to tackle this issue. Make no mistake about it in some of those tribalal areas the Pakistani Taliban still have some support but the overwhelming majority of pakistanis reject terrorism and are trying to suppress this, if you will, cancer in their society. The problem is the capacity of the government to do so successfully has been the biggest challenge and sometimes it has successes and sometimes it doesnt. Theres been frustration that has spilled over that americans have worried president bush as well as president obama have worried for some time the pakistanis were not tough enough on terrorism, the pakistanis and a nod and a wink relationship with the taliban. I suspect if that was the case that all changes now. Youll see a different approach. Theres two schools of thought on this. Some within pakistan wanted to try a reconciliation approach with the taliban, to try to bring them into the fold and they felt the best way to do that of not to use these heavy handed military tactics that disrupted their way of life. There was that argument within pakistanis political establishment. Others say you cant negotiate with these people. These people want to destroy the country. Today youll hear a different tone from the pakistani leadership. The Prime Minister is on his way out there to peshawar. Lets bring in bbcs katty kay. I remember reeding an article about the Afghanistan War talking about how only 15 of afghans actually were supportive of the taliban. And it was jarring to me how a group that had so little public support could have such a large footprint in the political future of that country. Seems like its the same thing in pakistan as well. This is a terrorist organization that is literally holding two countries that we americans too often think oh, are in line with the taliban. But this organization seems to be holding two countries hostage. You dont have to have very much public support and you dont have to have very much known mount terrorist attacks. Thats why they are so effective for the organizations doing it. Whats happened in pakistan as the civilian death toll has mounted from this kind of attack, the Popular Support, if there was any, has almost eroded for the organization. But amin is right the pakistani government has played with fire over the last four years, for several years thinking it could distinguish between good taliban and bad taliban. The groups in the taliban the pakistani government thought supported destabilizes india they were allowed to operate and then thought they could keep that siloed. What they learned you cant. Its attacking within pakistan. Losing the Government Support because civilians are getting killed. But they created a monster. Its very difficult to take it on. You wonder whether this school killing how much it will really change in term of their ability to wipe the taliban. I have to believe it changes everything in pakistan. Julie pace, the search for moderates in pakistan, frustrated the pakistani government. But its also frustrated two president s now. What is the white houses view of the situation in pakistan right now . Pakistan is just this huge conundrum for the white house. You saw early in president obamas tenure that he wanted to have a new relationship with pakistan. He saw that as hugely for the afghan strategy. But theres a lot of things that have really upset the pakistanis about the u. S. The bin laden raid, there was a cia agent who killed pakistanis. So that the relationship has been tense on both sides. But the u. S. As they look at the future of our relationship in that region, the taliban has become incredibly central to that. You remember a couple of weeks ago there was a decision where the president basically expanded what american troops would be left in afghanistan. That was all about the taliban giving the american troops to go after not just al qaeda remnants but the taliban. Politically its much tougher when you move away from the military side and move to the political side theres no easy answer. The Bush Administration plagued by sharif allowing the taliban to hide in plain sight. This country frustrated the past two president s. I cant believe theres not an opening for us to provide some assistance. This is a moment for secretary of state john kerry right now. He a fairly prominent speech a few years back at the center for american progress, a think tank here in washington, d. C. Where he out lined a very broad strategy that had a lot more focus on pakistan. A lot of those monetary focus. Sending money for them to do this type of antiterrorism training, to push up the moderates in the country. And, you know, it died by the wayside. Now in the wake of this im wondering if theres more political willingness to revisit Something Like that. To your point theres a backlash. When you go and kill hundreds of students, if you dont have a cultural backlash to that i dont know what produces it. Also this is, again, some of the most elite military families children that have been shot. This is going to yeah. I just find it credibly hard to believe as difficult as it is hard to understand whats going on inside of pakistan and all the different players this cuts to the core of it and i would be shocked if you didnt see a massive offensive against the taliban in the coming weeks. Lets move on to sydney where people are coming to grips. Three people are dead including the gunman who took 17 people hostage inside the Lindt Chocolate cafe. This video were showing you shows heavily armed police storming the building after a series of loud gun shots were heard. Several hostages were able to escape and officials decided they couldnt wait any longer to act. They made the call because they believed if at that time they didnt enter many more lives would be lost. It was tough exacting work. Many hours whether they were on point or part of a team that had to make that entry and deal with the situation. I want to point out they have save lives. Thief saved many lives. To those men and women all that were involved we thank you. The victims have been identified as 38yearold Katrina Dawson a mother of three a lawyer and 34yearold tori johnson. He managed the cafe and stew did at Washington State university between 2002 and 2003. Authorities are investigating whether they were killed by the gunman or wounded in the crossfire. Four other people who were wounded are in stable condition. Flags are flying at half mast. Officials also attended a Memorial Service a block away. Who exactly was the man behind the 16 hour hostage standoff. Hes been identified as a 50yearold man, monday. An iranian refugee being described as a selfstyled cleric who considered himself a martyr and loner. As he held 17 people hostage with a sawed off shotgun he demanded the isis flag which could be seen through the window an Islamic State flag. He wanted to speak to the Prime Minister. He was currently out on bail after being charged with helping a woman stab his exwife to death. And set her on fire. He was also charged this year with sexually assaulting at least seven women and sent to prison in 2012 for mailing threatening letters to families of australian soldiers who were killed in afghanistan. What we do know is that the perpetrator was wellknown to state and commonwealth authorities. He had a long history of violent crime. Infatuation with extremism and mental instability. As the siege unfolded yesterday, he sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the isil death cult. Tragically, there are people in our Community Ready to engaging politically motivated violence. The events at martin place also showed were ready to deal with these people professionally and with the full force of law. I guess, it begs the question here what exactly do you have to do in australia to get sent to jail . He sexually assaulted seven people. Part of a murder of his exwife where shes stabbed and set on fire. Hes sending threatening letters to the families of service men killed. They were poison pen letters and claimed it was his First Amendment right. What else can you tell super tuesday i guess the biggest problem this morning australian officials are saying that if he had been part of a terror group that would have been fine. If he were even talking to two or three people they would have tracked him down because it would have been in clusters. As we heard yesterday this lone wolf right. Is impossible sometimes to track. That illustrates the problems with these attacks. Thats why people are worrisome to officials here in britain, in canada we saw the attack on the soldiers there. In parliament there. Theres lots of people out there who are disturbed who make threats, do crazy things and its very hard for Law Enforcement to strike this balance between peoples Civil Liberties and putting them on watch lists. We see one story after another of muslims, muslim extremists going out and chopping peoples heads off in an Oklahoma City warehouse or running over soldiers outside of montreal or shooting up the parliament in canada. Its rarely a cleric that comes out of the mosque clean. So many of these people are disturbed. They have a bad criminal record already. This seems to be just a confluence of events and almost like they are using their religion as an excuse to be extreme. I think a lot of these people are disturbed and they are looking for something to latch on to. This is a convenient thing where theres lots of propaganda on social media. Isis has been very effective in creating very slick propaganda. I think its something that people can latch on to very easily that presents sort of a convenient narrative for people who are looking for meaning. Joining us now from sydney, australia, sar gentlema james w been there since the news broke. Have we seen changes already . Reporter we certainly are, mika. Theres no question about it. Just tonight New South Wales police the state please announced something they are calling Operation Hammer head. What they are planning to do is have an increased Police Presence on street. They will be patrolling in particular areas which are Public Meeting places. So things like the harbor, the iconic harbor with the Sydney Opera House and transportation. That will go on for about three weeks. We have certainly seen that increased Police Presence obviously yesterday but its going to be continuing. But, again, you know the point that you have bern raising there with your guests is why was monis on bail . And thats a question so many australians are asking tonight why was this guy on the streets . Its obviously something that everybody is looking at. Were hearing from the authorities that they are going to be taking a very close look at, you know, what changes need to be made. He was supposed to go to court in february. Thats a couple of months away. And everything that we know about him from what were hearing in the community is that this was a man who was unraveling and there were signs and clearly with what here its a question of how you keep that how you prevent it from getting to this situation. Back to you. Sara, let me ask you. Joe scarborough here. Are police under scrutiny in the community and the media forgoing in at the time they did. Two tragic deaths in that cafe. Still no answers on whether it was actually the gunmans bullets that killed the two or whether it was, in fact, the Police Officers bullets that killed the two people inside. Reporter well, the commissioner here Andrew Scipione has said we have an active investigation. Clearly thats one of the questions that has to be looked at. Who or how is the bullet fired that killed these hostages. But we were here last night and one person i spoke to who was near very, very close to this as it happened just looking down upon the scene said right before it happened there was the belief that one of the hostages was down. And that the police had no choice but to go in, in the effort to save lives. So theres this, theres this really difficult situation. You got to go in and then when you do go in, how does that play out. Thats absolutely one of the things that we scrutinized. But i think that theres also been the belief of many people here in australia that there was a lot of restraint, that this was measured, there was a lot of waiting, that there was negotiation, conversations were going on, and so i think people are going to wait and see what comes out of that investigation. All right. Nbc sara james in sydney. Thank you very much. Another big story were following a manhunt under way right now for an iraq war veteran suspected of killing his exwife and five former inlaws. This all unfolded early yesterday morning in montgomery county, pennsylvania about 30 miles north of philadelphia. Officials say 35yearold marine reservist bradley stone went on a shooting spree gunning down his exwife as well as her mother, grandmother, sister, brotherinlaw and niece. Their bodies were found in three different homes. A 17yearold boy, his exwifes nephew was also shot and wounded. Officials have not released a motive but stone and his exwife were in a bitter custody dispute and friends and neighbors said she feared for her life. I was asleep and thats when i heard the noise. Reporter ashley doesnt want her face on the camera without could hear it all through the walls of her apartment. I heard four gun shots. Reporter nicole hill brad stones exwife dead inside her apartment. Ashley called 911 after seeing bradley rush the kids in the car. I opened the window and asked him if anything is okay. He looked at me and said shes hurt pretty bad. We have to leave. Reporter neighbors said nicole and brad were having nasty custody issues. They say she was very open about her concerns for her own safety. She would tell all the ladies in the neighborhood this man will kill me. She felt threatened. This is the Worst Nightmare to see this kind of violence so close the home. Those who know stone say he suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. The District Attorney said he should be considered armed and dangerous. This is one of these mornings we wish we put the alarm under the pillow and stayed in bed. The story we were talking about, the questions we were raising whats happened in australia, why was this guy not on a watch list, why was he not being monitored more closely you could ask the same question in the pennsylvania list. Theres hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have posttraumatic stress disorder or suffer from some mental problems that could potentially lead them to violent acts. In the vast majority of cases it doesnt. If you look at our veterans and the suicide rate alone is huge. The story hasnt unfolded. Its the question between civil rights and research. How do you know who are the ones that will do something terrible. We just passed the tragic two Year Anniversary of newtown. Weve been focusing and a lot of people in the media have focused how none of the gun laws were changed. But i think as big or i would say even a bigger tragedy and a bigger failure in washington, d. C. , gun laws aside, the failure to address Mental Health in a Meaningful National way. Because the further you get away from newtown the more you find out you could have passed every gun law in the world and that guy, that guy was going to figure out how to bring harm to people. Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. Incredibly difficult to get one. People will do crazy things. Lets be straight about it. Australia, i looked it up, has 40 murders by firearm. In america its 11,000. Talking about apples and oranges. With Police Killings as well. The point, though, is that whether youre talking about australia, whether youre talking about newtown, whether youre talking about pennsylvania, all three of those, regardless of the gun law, all three of those have Mental Health, a Mental Health problem. Does it matter it does matter. Whether 11,000 people are dying in the country, whether 5,000 people dining in a country or five from guns if we dont address Mental Health first among our veterans but t