we're going to learn from what went wrong. >> richard branson promises a full investigation after that deadly disaster for virgin galactic. kurdish fighters from syria and iraq join forces to battle isis. and ukraine is launch -- and ukraine's controversial election. our top stories, america's national transportation safety board says friday's virgin galactic space disaster was heavily documented. there were six cameras aboard when it suddenly crashed,

killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other. more now on the pilots and the investigation from cnn's stephanie elam. >> we've now learned more about the pilots. we can tell you that the pilot that lost his lost, his name was michael alsbury. he was 39 years old. the pilot who survived, his name is peter siebold and he is 43 years old. at this point we know that the entire virgin galactic community is trying to figure out what's from here on now. what happens going forward depends upon what the nst -- ntsb discovers. they are looking into this crash. this is the first space craft-related crash they were taking the lead on. although they were part of the columbia crash and challenger

crash as well. they have a little more than a dozen people that are here and perhaps a little bit more than they would normally have in a plane crash because it is slightly different. they are end kournlinged that hopefully the data that was gathered might help them figure out exactly what went on. sir richard branson did convey the concern for loss of life and he would very much like to see these commercial flights into space to continue. to that end, he says that he hasn't had any personal who has already put down the $250,000 to take this ride into space for the six or minutes or so of weightlessness has asked for their return of their money. the money is there if they wanted to do that. at the same time, he said one person did come along after the accident and say that they wanted to be a part of this journey into space and put their

deposit in. so at this point they are really focusing on what went wrong in this accident and they do plan on moving forward. what that forward will look like, that's what everyone would like to know. stephanie elam, cnn. on saturday, a clearly shaken richard branson met in california with reporters for the first time since the crash. here's what he had to say. >> most importantly, our thoughts remain with the families of the brave skilled pilots and all those who have been affected by this tragedy. the bravery of test pilots generally cannot be overstated. nobody under estimates the risks involved in space travel. as i say that we owe it to our test pilots to find out exactly what went wrong -- >> virgin galactic founder richard branson, he said despite

the tragedy, the program will move on. demonstrations over alleged police brutality in france are taking a violent turn. several have been injured. hundreds gathered in the streets to condemn the death of an environmental activist last week. a report shows he may have been killed by a police stun grenade. the african union and the army wants -- violent protests forced the president out of burke keen in a -- burkina faso. >> they came in tens of thousands to protest president

blaise compaore's rule. he anoubsed he would step down. protesters taking to the streets to express their outrage at a proposed parliamentary vote to change the constitution to allow the president another term. on thursday, they set the parliament building on fire. for now, military is in charge. > translator: after consultation with the army chief of staff, informs the national and international community that lieutenant colonel zida was selected unanimously to lead the period of transition following the departure from of power from president

compaore. >> he had been a key leader. he came to power in a bloody coup in 1987. seeking to amend the constitution so he can stay in power 27 years later. now that's off the cards, an important message to africa's other presidents for life that they should not take their power for granted. but it is early days for the brave new burkina faso. an uncertain few months ahead that before elections. hope is fading that more than 200 kidnapped school girls in nigeria will be set free by

boko haram. the leader denies he ever agreed to a cease fire and the return of the girls. he said the girls have converted to islam and married off. he went on to boko haram will never negotiate with nigeria's government. one yazidi woman recounts her brutal enslavement by isis militants. also, ukrainian separatists head to the polls. what this election means to the future of eastern ukraine. m. i was taking warfarin, but wondered if i kept digging, could i come up with something better. my doctor told me about eliquis... for three important reasons. one, in a clinical trial,

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isis has apparently committed another atrocity against a sun nie tribe in iraq's anbar province. they executed more than 50 tribesmen. isis seized the town last month and since then more than 200 tribesmen were found in a mass grave near the town. an iraqi official says another 48 were publicly executed. to the east of anbar, car bombs ripped through baghdad saturday. nearly a dozen killed, 60 others wounded. isis has unleashed some of its most brutal treatment on the

yazidi community in iraq. in particular, its young women. one young woman gives an account of what she survived. jana was a 19-year-old senior with dreams of becoming a doctor. when isis came to the village. >> they came there and said you have to convert or to islam or we will kill you. her village was surrounded and occupied by isis last month. soon after, isis ordered the entire village to go to the school, where they stole all the people's jewelry, money, and cell phones and separated the men from the women. according to a united nations report, isis then gathered all men, more than 10 years old and took them out the village and shot them. a different story happened to

women. >> they separated the girls and women who had children and the old women. they took us to mosul to a big three-story house. >> she said they were hundreds of girls in the house and they got visits from the men of isis. >> translator: they came to the room and looked around at the girls and if they like one, they chose her and took her. if the girls cried and didn't want to leave, they beat the girl. the guy who chose me was 70 years old and he took me to his house. there were four yazidi girls there already. they hit us and they didn't give us enough to eat or drink. they told us we were infidels. he put a gun to my head and said i will kill you because you won't convert to islam. that night, they took a 11-year-old girl away and when she came back, she told me they raped her.

>> they are systemically raped by different men. >> this doctor is an adviser to the kurdistan regional government and an expert on gender violence. she said isis kidnapped more than 250 women last august. after an mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of yazidi minorities. they said the captive women have been bought and sold like cattle. >> they have two main aims, first to recruit people by giving them these young women and second to human i will yat -- human hue mill lit yat. >> when someone joins isis. they give them a girl.

marry them off and maybe $2,000. >> since august, kurdish authorities have succeeded in rescuing a 100 women. she said all of those rescued say they were raped. >> if you could say something to the men who took you to his house, what would you want to tell this guy? >> translator: i don't want to tell him anything. i just want to kill him. a human rights watches report says a shiite militia in iraq is responsible for a deadly attack at a sun nie mosque in august. 34 people were killed when gun

men attacked during prayers. human rights watch is asking the u.s. to stop providing iraq with military support. a controversial election is under way in eastern ukraine. coming up what the move means for a fragile cease-fire. also, big smiles for a u.s. marine freed from a mexican jail. the behind the scenes negotiations that got him out.

pro russia separatists are holding elections in war torn eastern ukraine right now. polls opened a few hours ago and the rebel strongholds of donetsk and luhansk. separatists are trying to legitimatize their control. they took over after victor yanokovich was removed from power. why is this controversial? >> it's controversial because arguably it contravenes the terms of the cease-fire and the truce that was aagreed in september of this year to prevent the warring parties from continuing to battle each other in these very volatile areas in the east and parts of the south of ukraine as well. the voting in these ukrainian regions controlled by pro russian separatists, those you

mentioned has been under way now for at least just over four hours. in fact, people are going to polling stations there. there have been pictures showing that taking place. these elections are the next logical step following a referendum in may which gave overwhelming support to the idea of these regions becoming independent from ukraine. ukraine itself along with the united states and the europe poen union have said they would not recognize the vote which is taking place in a very precarious security situation. this is the violent bag drop of the rebel being staged in ukraine's devastated east. despite a truce with government forces on paper, on the ground, sporadic fighting continues. authorities in kiev say the vote is ill legitimate. >> a just society can be built only when there is the rule of

law, when there are fair elections. unlike elections, pseudo elections that terrorists and ban ditz are planning to hold in occupied terts. they want to demonstrate a fake demonstration of will. >> local residents say they are determined to vote despite the security threat. day and night we hear shots says tattiana. they bomb us. we don't want to go back there. we're preparing for elections and hope for something better. mostly people are afraid said value ina -- valentina. the bulk of ukraine held its own parliamentary elections which

returned pro western parties to power. this country continues to be torn between west and east and russia is rejecting calls to distance itself from the rebel vote. >> we will of course recognize the results and we expect that this election will be free and that no one will try to disrupt it from the outside. >> and that kremlin recognition means the prospect of reunifying ukraine under government control may become a little more distant. election result is essentially a foregone conclusion, both the candidates standing in the luhansk and donetsk republican are pro independence. this election or vote could take these regions one step away of reunifying with ukraine proper and perhaps for the establishment of a frozen conflict which could give russia

sway over the region for the foreseeable future. >> okay. kiev and the u.s. both calling this vote il legitimate. what might be the consequences as far as the west is concerned against russia supporting this vote? >> well, the consequences could be quite profound for russia. already, the european union representative to moscow has said that because, essentially i'm paraphrasing him, because essentially this sets russia on a collision course with the west yet again over the support of this vote, it could mean more sanctions against moscow. at the very least, there's a possibility the sanctions that are already imposed against moscow by the united states and european union as well as others won't be lifted as quickly as they might otherwise have been if russia had withdrawn its support or distanced itself from this vote. we're seeing yet again russia

and the west at loggerheads over this issue in eastern ukraine. >> yet again another issue that the west is going to have to tackle. thank you, matthew chance. following this vote taking for us from moscow. a u.s. marine reservist is home with his family on american soil after spending seven months in prison in mexico. andrew tahmooressi it was all a mistake, a wrong turn that led him to a tijuana checkpoint and then behind bars on gun charges. >> they took exhaustive efforts among a myriad of players, u.s. marine sergeant andrew tahmooressi is free and back on u.s. soil. he's back in the united states after seven months in a mexican prison. that's him hugging his mother jill and friends at a san diego airport after crossing the

border. in an exclusive interview with cnn, the tahmooressi family spokesman said a variety of factors led to the marine's release. >> his mother, the congressman, the governor, montel, everybody has been in san diego for the better part of a week. a lot of false starts along the way. and it took a fair amount of kind of work to get it to the point where it was. >> former new mexico governor bill richardson pictured here along with ed royce and matt salmon were among the group that helped get him out of jail. family friend montel williams says tahmooressi has a long rebuilding process ahead. >> this experience for him in the last seven months is in a lot of ways has retraumatized him. this is like prison ptsd.

they really are going to need a break for just a little bit of time. >> tahmooressi an afghan war vet was held on weapons charges and faced more than 20 years in prison. on friday, he was set free by a mexican court order that officially withdrew the charges. the mexican prisons didn't have the resources to treat his ptsd. >> on that base, to reunite with his family with the knowledge that he's going to get the treatment he needs -- >> tahmooressi was arrested on march 31st at a tijuana checkpoint after mexican customs agents found three firearms in his truck, a pistol, pump shotgun and a semiautomatic rival. he said he crossed by accident. hi mom says the marine parked in this lot. he met a left.

how are you doing, andrew? in may i spoke to him in the mexican prison where he was being held. what have things been like there for you there? >> not very good in the beginning for like the first month, things were not that -- not that good at all. >> and now with the ordeal behind him, after 214 days in prison, tahmooressi is expected to resume his ptsd treatment in florida. and his case is not over just yet. according to his attorney who i spoke to exclusively, he tells me that they plan on going back to mexico to retrieve the car and the contents in it, including those three weapons that tahmooressi had inside his vehicle. for years, virgin galactic closely guarded the mysteries of its space tourism project, could friday's tragedy force all of those secrets into the open?

we'll look into that. also ahead, israel tries to ease anger over access to a holy site. wee live in jerusalem.

welcome back to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm natalie alan from cnn center. our top stories this hour, the military in burkina faso said this man lieutenant colonel issac zida will run the country. investigators say they have yet to interview the pilot hospitalized after surviving the virgin galactic space ship disaster. the other pilot on friday's test flight was killed.

u.s. officials say there were six cameras aboard the space craft when it broke apart and crashed in california. pro russia separatists in eastern ukraine are holding elections in their self-declared republics in luhansk and donetsk. authorities have released the name of the pilot killed in friday's virgin galactic tragedy. he was 39-year-old michael alsbury who worked for scaled composites, the company that built and operated spaceship 2, the other pilot is being treated for injuries at a california hospital. richard branson addressed reporters on saturday. >> we've always known that commercial space travel is an incredibly hard project. we've been under taking a comprehensive testing program for many years and safety has always been our number one

priority. this is the biggest test program ever carried out in commercial aviation history. precisely to ensure that this never happens to the public. the bravery of test pilots generally cannot be overstated. nobody under estimates the risks involved in space travel. we do understand the risks involved, and we're not going to push on blindly. to do so would be an insult to all those affected by this tragedy. we're going to learn from what went wrong, discover how we can improve safety and performance, and then move forward together. i truly believe that humanity's greatest achievements come out of of our greatest pain. this team is a group of the bravest, the brightest, the most determined and the most resilient of people. we are determined to honor the bravery of the pilots and the teams here by learning from this

tragedy. only then can we move forward united behind a collective desire to push the boundaries of human endeavor. >> richard branson there. the u.s. national transportation safety board said federal investigators expect to collect a large of amount data. >> everybody is going to be learning right now and i look forward, frankly, to the scrutiny of an ntsb investigation into what has been going on with virgin galactic and scale composites. i think an unvarnished objective view of it would be a good thing. this is a company, these two companies, scaled and virgin galactic, that have been understandably secret about their development process, this

hangar doors remain firmly shut and the only time we see the vehicles in carefully crafted public events. it's not the kind of thing -- the kind of scrutiny that you get from a government-led program like nasa. even though they can be difficult and obscure at times as well. so having the ntsb, and faa in there, doing that kind of investigation, will give us an idea what they understand and how close they were to the level of safety that has been part of the p.r. varnish and i think what you are going to find there's a big disparity. >> miles o'brien on virgin galactic space ship 2 project which by the way cost nearly half a billion dollars to develop. jerusalem police say they have completely reopened a holly

site. it was shut down after a controversial rabb buy was shot. that sparked clashes between police and protesters. we're joined now with the very latest from jerusalem. erin. >> israeli police saying that the temple mount or noble sangt ware is open to all muslims for worship and the first time for jews to be able to visit as well. a cnn producer that was one at entrances to the site, he saw police were only letting men in over the age of 40 and there was a small group of women outside protesting as well because they had been turn away. now at 8:00 this morning, the deputy speaker moshe feiglin visited the site. it passed relatively quiet without incident. he says he was there with the

controversial rabbi when he was shot on a motorcycle four times. they both attended an event in jerusalem that called for more israeli jews to go to the temple mount to pray. it was that position as well as increasing visits to the site by the likes of feiglin and glick that led many muslims to be very angry. as for the broader situation here in jerusalem, israeli police saying some 17 palestinian youths have been arrested over the past 48 hours for disturbing the peace and the red crescent saying there have been some 40 palestinians injured in various parts of the city. >> has there been any new statements from either the palestinian or israeli leadership over what's going on to try to defuse the senction over this?

>> we heard from benjamin netanyahu. he put out a statement calling for them to calm the situation around the temple mount or noble sanctua sanctuary. asking them to show responsibility and restraint. the decision to completely close this site on thursday really infuriated senior members of the palestinian leadership, the spokes spern saying it was a declaration of war. the decision on friday to partially reopen the site, albeit under restrictions seemingly cooled tensions. israeli prime minister announced increased security in the streets. we saw a surveillance balloon over the palestinian neighborhood just this morning.

things in jerusalem seeming to be relatively quiet but when it comes to this conflict as we've seen in the past, just one incident has the capability of triggering something that could lead to a sequence of events that could be much worse. >> thank you so much. the u.s. political landscape could drastically change on tuesday. coming up why so many races are too close to call and what they all have in common. stay with us.

the united states has an important election this week that could shift the balance of power in the country's senate. as chief u.s. congressional correspondent dana bash reports, the races all have one thing in common. >> from kentucky -- >> a new phase to vote for barack obama. >> to kansas. to colorado. >> he's voted 99% of the time with president obama. >> across the country, republicans are trying to take control of the senate by tying democrats to an unpopular president. >> pleasure to meet you. >> new hampshire's gop candidate barely speaks a sentence without saying the incumbent votes with

the president 99% of the time. >> the president said he's not running but all of his ballots are, and i agree with him. >> he gives the democratic response of 2014. >> is the president a drag on you here? >> this race is not between the president and scott brown. this race is between me and scott brown. >> obama's negative helps make new hampshire's senate race neck and neck. now of nearly a dozen dramatic too close to call elections from coast to coast. north carolina, kentucky, louisiana, colorado, alaska. they are about government failures in general. washington in the doing its job. >> senator kay hagan, absent. >> a big reason they are getting

pummelled for missing committee meetings. >> mitch mcconnell who has been absent from nearly every committee meeting the past five years. >> i am the one that remains connected to my community, my roots, and iowa. >> democrats are trying to hold on to the senate majority by turning up voters in all these critical contests who tend to stay home in mid term. especially single women. it's why iowa democrat paints his opponent as extreme. >> they are so disgusted with washington. >> both mitch mcconnell and harry reid have been far too partisan for so long.

>> in south dakota, democrat rick wie land got creative. he returned to song. ♪ >> dana bash, cnn, washington. tune in this tuesday night for complete coverage of the u.s. mid term elections. join wolf blitzer, anderson cooper and cnn's entire political team for results and analysis. cnn's election night in america begins at 5:00 p.m. eastern and midnight wednesday in london. for thousands who are separate to make it into the united states every year and that is certainly an issue that many politicians deal with, some risk their lives by taking boats from their home countries. with exclusive access, cnn rode with the u.s. coast guard in the florida straits and witnessed

dramatic rescues. >> we got eyes on them. >> a dramatic scene plays out in the florida straits. >> i got them. >> a united states coast guard plane spots this small boat packed with 29 cubans, including several women and at least one young boy. the boat is taking on water. >> the nordel is coming on scene. >> the groups leader refused to cooperate when the boat arrives to help. the group gives up and gives in. joining the growing number of migrants rescued while making this dangerous and sometimes deadly journey to the u.s. >> we've been seeing the highest migration levels that we've seen from cuba and haiti the past five years. >> roughly 10,000 have been found in this past year. the biggest spike, cubans who's

numbers have doubled sips the government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. >> you have to be pretty desperate to go in open water and try to make it. it's very dangerous. >> most of it is economic. they are looking for a better way of life. >> lieutenant is the commanding officer of nor dext l. >> this is the front line of coast guard operations. this is where the action happens. >> we wanted to get a firsthand look at the action. we spent a few days on board and what we saw was sobering. a few hours into our journey, the boat takes on ten migrants. the lights of the u.s. shine in the distance. this is the closest this group will get. >> one more. >> a doctor is concerned the last one may be suicidal, refusing to eat after telling the coast guard this was his

ninth attempt to reach america. >> so you see, they have put the man on the stretcher, on the cutter safely. it doesn't appear that he's responding at this point. it's unclear what they are going to do with him. we know that the remaining nine migrants are all in the same area on this boat and will probably be here until the process runs its course. >> in the early morning hours, another group of cuban migrants is found barely moving, ieddleing in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. each one is given a life vest before being transferred to the cutter. their small boat is filled with gasoline and shot up with a 50 caliber machine gun. a fire sinks the tiny boat. on the cutter, the migrants wear suits to stay dry. they had given red beans and rice to eat twice a day and a

rubber mat to sleep on. some interact with coast guard members like ronald garcia, a cuban american himself. >> it's difficult to see the situation that they are in. >> in all, we saw about 80 cuban migrants in just four days with the coast guard. all of them with desperation in their eyes. for most, their search for a new life over at least for now. >> of the 80 migrants we saw, 29 cubans who were found on a u.s. territory were actually allowed to stay in the u.s. because of a longstanding policy that only applies to cubans. most migrants who are found at sea, regardless of their country of origin are usually sent back. cnn, miami beach. just ahead here, this music video was made in one continuous shot and went viral. we'll show you how they did it next.

a number of countries around the world mark the day of the dead this weekend. in mexico city, the celebrations included setting a world record. it was for having the most lakarina's at the same place. organizer say 509 showed up at the event. a mudslide north of los angeles took people by surprise recently.

derek van damme standing by at the international weather center with more about it. we have been covering a lot of landslides and mudslides lately. unfortunately, we had our devastating landslide that took place in sri lanka earlier this week. then we had a landslide that took place in los angeles. this is a very drought stricken state in the u.s. and this rain has brought some much needed relief because the ground was so dry, so par. ed from this water that my amount of rainfall easily picked up debris and carried that much across much of that area, camarillo is where the landslide took place. this was in ventura county. it is an hour north of los angeles. this area had a significant

wildfire in may of 2013. so that just added to this rainfall destabilizing the ground. there was record rainfall in the area. more than its monthly average for camarillo springs. there was one person trapped inside this house and he was rescued and continues to be safe. you can see the rainfall totals across that region, but fortunately the rain has moved on, although we could use more rain across the san francisco and los angeles area, but it is dry once again. now to the other side of the world, this is europe. now, residents are bracing for a potential rock slide in norway. this is the mount mennen area and this particular valley has been evacuated by authorities because a rock slide is actually imminent thanks to fractures in this ridgeline. we can get a side perspective of

this mountain in question. it's becoming more of a nuisance because we can't really time exactly when this rock slide is going to happen. we know it's imminent. people just want to move back to their homes and back to their lives. there is more rainfall and increases the potential for rock slides to take place. american band okay go is known for making creative music videos and this time is no different. we'll take a look at the technology behind the group's latest viral hit. would you please this nondescript tokyo building is home to the creative mind of one of the hottest viral music videos around and we're going to get a look inside the studio. this is the producer who is friends with the group. in this new video which she shot right here in japan, they use drones and they use these segue

like honda vehicles called unikufs, take a look. ♪ >> this video already has millions of views and the number keeps rising. it's essentially one continuous shot. they did 44 takes. they completed the whole thing 11 times, and out of those 11, they found three takes they found was okay. the one on youtube is what they consider their best take. filming took place over 4 days. it was raining a lot so that extended the shooting. it happened around 6:00 in the evening, you see 2,400 people doing a flip card maneuver. the director says this is his favorite part. the end is my favorite because the drone flies up 700 meters

about half a mile and the music just stops. you see that huge crowd. he says this is my first music video and i wanted to try something new. they used a multikopter camera to get the incredible aerials. everyone was moving in slow motion. one of the world's hottest viral music videos made right here in japan. will ripley, cnn, tokyo. >> thank you for watching this hour. i'm back with the latest news after a short break. you are watching cnn. so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects

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a new report says iraqi security forces played a part in a deadly mosque attack that killed 34 people back in august. in eastern ukraine rebel elections get under way. kiev say it is is illegal. and a full investigation now under way, looking for answers in virgin galactic's deadly crash. and welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. polls are open in parts of eastern ukraine where pro-russian separatists are defying the u.s. separatists seeking to legitimatize their power. matthew chance is monitoring the vote for us and joins us live from moscow. let's talk about w