a powerful cyclone tears through the south pacific leaving a trail of absolute destruction. the manhunt intensifies in ferguson, missouri for the gunman or gunmen who ambushed two police officers. this 18-month-old baby of saved thanks what some are calling a miracle in the u.s. state of utah. new video of her dramatic rescue. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. this is "cnn newsroom." we start the hour here on the pacific islands. relief workers say cyclone pam has caused unbelievable

destruction there and that the humanitarian needs will be enormous. the storm is beginning to subside after tearing through the pacific island nation with sustained winds of up to 165 miles per hour or 270 kilometers per hour. unicef tells us at least six people are dead from the storm. an estimated 260,000 are in the disaster zone. it may take time to fully assess the impact since communication systems in many of the areas remain down. >> we are not yet clear on the impact and scope of the disaster. we fear the destruction and damage could be widespread. >> reporter: let's hear from alice clements in the capital city of port villa. she's with unistef-- unicef and joins with us more details. thank you for taking time with us. what is the condition now?

are you on the back side of the storm? i know you've seen the worst of it. >> reporter: yes. it feels like we really are -- finally the storm is starting to leave. the winds are elevated but the gale-force winds that we were seeing through this morning and today seem to be dying down at least we hope. people have had enough already. >> we're seeing images we see some of the buildings that are were really really torn up from the storm. but what are you seeing where you are? are you in an area that is built up with stronger buildings, or are you in an area where there are simpler homes? and you see damage there? >> reporter: so the images you're seeing i think are of the town which is probably one of the better construction standards for the country. it's important to understand that everything outside of the port villa town will be lower

construction standards. so this is what we're really concerned about. you know i had an awful night last night in a strong hotel and still had my balcony door blown in and winds gusting through. i spend the night under the bathroom sink. but all that i could think about during that time of the people who might literally be clinging to a coconut tree for dear life trying to hold on in horrific winds. >> alice, talk about what the next few days will bring. what will it be like for crews to get out there and start assessing the damage and trying to get back to some sense of normalcy. >> reporter: yeah. so at this stage, the national disaster management office has only confirmed six people dead. this is central really. even to get to the outskirts difficult. i went to the town to but had to walk. you coop even travel -- you couldn't even travel 50 meters in a vehicle without being stopped by trees blocking the

roads. they're working to clear roads as quickly as they can. it's going to take time. in addition there's no power at this point. people are not able to use phones if they're out of battery to call them. and it's making thing much more difficult, as well. there's also no water. >> this storm was one of the strongest to hit the region. what was it like the other day when you really went through the brunt of the storm? >> reporter: it definitely. like one of the strongest storms on record. it was a truly awful experience. i've lived in difficult environments and lived in conflict areas. this of the most scary experience of my life. and i've talked to colleagues and community members today, and everybody says the same. this was an absolutely terrifying natural occurrence.

it went on for a long time. cyclone levels at least from port villa from 8:30 at night vanuatu time to 3:00 in the morning. a very long time for people to be terrified and clinging for their lives. >> alice clements on the phone with us for the past few days talking about what it was like to go through the storm. alice, we wish you safety and happy to hear the worst has passed. still experiencing strong winds tom get more on where pam is head d headed next we have more from derek van dam. >> i can't imagine what the people and alice were experiencing the last 12 to 15 hours. seeing the first images coming out of the area. where is the storm headed? good question. what i want to show is port

villa which is in the south other? portions of the chain. you see that the winds are starting to subside. the center of the storm is well to the south. in fact, it's about 300 kilometers or so to the east/southeast of new caledonia. i'll step back to show this is fiji on the right-hand side of the television screen. i want to show you the moments of when it passed over port villa. this is the projected path. by the early workweek late bond is monday, we have this skimming the eastern portions of the north island of new zealand. this is the track of the tropical cyclone. as it made direct landfall with port villa. by the way this is the second most powerful landfalling cyclone on earth ever recorded. that just second behind the supertyphoon in the philippines in 2013. it made landfall local time in

vanuatu at 12:35 in the earning mompt about 9:35 -- in the morning, about 9:35 standard time. look at the eye. right over the capital city. unbelievable stuff. obviously leaving this kind of destruction behind on people's likelihoods being impacted by this. they've got months if not years to pick up from this devastating cyclone. george? >> derek, thank you. a top u.s. military commander is raising concerns about what he calls an increase in russian military assertiveness. the head of nor ad told u.s. lawmaker the rise in activity including development of a new long-range missile could heavily strain canadian and u.s. defense systems. >> the russian long-range aviation is a pretty significant increase in numbers. and what concerns me more are two things -- it's the -- where they're flying, even through the english, down the english

channel. it's where they're flying that has not been what they've done in the past, even back with the soviet union. and the development of the cruise missiles that they have that have a very long range. that from the russian, from eastern russia they can change critical infrastructure in alaska and in canada that we rely on for a homeland defense mission. >> from admiral william gortney threw. the cruise missile has a 2,000- 2,000-mile ranging and could put the u.s. at risk if launched from the atlantic. police in ferguson, missouri are searching for the shooter or shooters who wounded two police officers during a protest this week. authorities hope a $10,000 reward will help track down whoever's behind it. in the wake of rising tensions and the resignation of a police chief and city manager the mayor is saying he's not going anywhere. sarah sider in with the story. >> reporter: while the protest

movement has called for the mayor to step down the mayor says he's not going anywhere because there are plenty of residents here who want to see him stay. the leadership shakeup in ferguson is vast. protest groups want to even more heads roll. >> the mayor needs to resign as well. the leaders in this community knew what was going on. he knew what was going on under his watch. >> reporter: and what does the mayor have to say about that? we asked him. why should they trust you since you were here during all of the madness that has unfolded in the city in. >> sure. i can tell you there's ways to remove me if that is the will of the people. i think it's important to recognize that there's a lot of people who may be angel trie situation, there's a lot of people frustrated with the way thing have gone down. there's a lot of people who still and express to me -- express confidence in both my willingness and members of the council's willingness to listen to be responsive and to make changes as necessary. people in the community recognize this. >> reporter: that includes black and white residents we talked

to. >> we believe the mayor has done a good job. he's only been there four years. in the four years that he's been there, he's consciously tried to reach out to all parts of our community. if we lose mayor knowles, we lose a force for change. will be harder to make the changes that the doj is asking for. >> reporter: an understatement to say race relations here remain raw. would you say race relations are now worse since all of this since august 9th? >> i think that they're definitely more strained than they've ever been in a long time here in this community. and probably you know across the country. i think now there's people here in this community who are wanting to talk about it and willing to talk about it. so one of the things we're focused on is bringing people together and bridging that gap. whereas before we didn't see frustrations. >> reporter: when it comes to protest groups in and out of ferguson calling for the mayor to step down he says they'll have to recall him because he is not going to resign. look, if you want to get rid of the mayor, do it the way

everyone else has to do it. do a recall. >> no. he did things that was not right. he did things under his watch he knew what was going on and needs to take responsibility for it. >> reporter: there is a legal way, right? people can get together get a pig, and recall him from office -- get a petition and recall him from office. >> it's not that i don't think individuals are ruling it out. could be a possible. >> reporter: ultimately there's been no real effort to recall the mayor, and he's going to stay put. he's from this community, he spent his whole life here and wants to serve the city. george? >> sara sidner thank you. the ferguson community remains deeply scarred by the deadly shooting of teenager michael brown last year and the violent protests that followed. so in an effort to encourage more open dialogue between police and protesters, representatives from both sides met up friday to air some grievances. >> we need police officers. there's no way we can operate without you.

what happened the other day this is not the movement. this say nonviolent movement. the reason we stepped and took the streets is because we seen one of our young brothers gunned down at the hands of police. we don't want that. this community don't want that. this region does. need that. i respect what's happening here. this is what needs to happen. this dialogue. only way we're going to move forward is one day we have to have this dialogue. we have to continue to protest and have to continue to demand what we want. at the same time in between, only beltway's going to get better is we have dialogue. >> we're going to make sure you abide by the laws that says that all men is equal under the rights of the constitution. and until that happens we're going to continue to protest we're going to continue to raise our voice. it's not against the police. it's about -- about equality. and justice for all. >> lieutenant jerry lure called officer friendly by many locals says for him working to build community support and trust helps defuse tense

situations:now we move to the front lines in the fight against isis. government and militia forces in iraq pushed into the last part of tikrit held by the terror group. a final effort to take back the city. at least one witness described the fighting as intense and reinforcements had to be incent because of it. officials -- had to be sent in because of it. officials believe it was in retaliation for the operation in tikrit. isis blew up an iraqi army base killing more than 40 soldiers. iraq's military is made up mostly of shiite fighters. they've been responsible for saving a number of sunniville animals. senior international correspondent ben wedeman visited one of the villages where soldiers are fighting for here's and minds of those caught in the middle. >> reporter: water, biscuits juice, and a kiss. the battle to win hearts and minds iraqi style. members of the organization the most powerful shia armed group fighting isis are handing out

food and supplies to the residents at the sunni village south of tikrit. "we've been holed up for ten months," he says. his village is home to around 30 families and since last summer was caught in the middle between isis to the north and iraqi forces to the south. "isis never came here," he says "but they fired rockets over our heads." it's the sort of place many drive by but rarely stop at. a peaceful little oasis by the normally busy road linking tikrit with baghdad. for now it seems hearts and minds here have been won. "they're good," says the village leader of the shia fighters "if someone is sick, they'll take them to the doctor even at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. if it weren't for them, isis would have slaughtered us." further north in a hospital at

the edge of tikrit, doctors attend to 31-year-old sadig, shot in the leg in bad in the center of the city -- in battle in the center of the city. the fighting is intense, he says. from a distance, however, it's difficult to gauge. we're on the roof of one of saddam hussein's old palaces south of tikrit. in the distance in the haze the last part of the city in the hands of isis is under steady bombardment by iraqi forces. the palace overlooks the tigris river. "yesterday bodies floated down the river from the hospital," says this eight-year iraqi army veteran. "there were people from tikrit executed by isis." when tikrit eventually falls, the struggle for hearts and minds will move from the suburbs to the city. ben wedeman, cnn, tikrit, iraq. ahead here on "cnn newsroom," we're getting new

insight into the mind of a seemingly normal teenager lured by isis. why he said he wanted to die a suicide bomber. plus new poll show a tough road ahead for benjamin netanyahu as israeli voters go to the polls next week. we go live to beirut for the latest. this is kevin returning to his childhood home. this is the smell of baked pears, making him feel warm. then pie crust as he wonders if it's too soon to ask what's for dessert. now vanilla, reminding him of pep talks with mom and slightly inappropriate advice from dad. new air wick life scents in mom's baking the first constantly changing fragrance that acts like real life and says 'welcome home, kev-y bear.' this is him, secretly loving the name kev-y bear. air wick home is in the air. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't leave your car unprotected. but a lot of us leave our identities unprotected. nearly half a million cars were stolen in 2012, but for every car stolen 34 people had their identities stolen. identity thieves can steal your money,

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show the center left zionist union party is expanding its lead over benjamin netanyahu's lie kud party. one of the polls indicates the zionist union will take 2 seats in israel's parliament while likud will take 22. for more analysis on the election let's bring in the director at the institute for public policy and international affairs in beirut at american university. thank you very much for taking time with us. the first question we would like to pose is just talking about prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his focus on security. obviously that has been key for him, you but is that key in the minds of voters or more the economy? >> clearly inside israel the economy and housing in particular as well as wider social disparities are the big issue. and it is what the voters have

clearly put high on the agenda. the labor center coalition led by herzog is focusing on that very much in israel about the palestinian issue or israeli/arab tensions or israeli iranian issues. netanyahu is trying to use the iranian scarecrow to rally support, but it doesn't seem to be working because he's been dropping. >> as far as prime minister benjamin netanyahu's trip to the united states mixed reaction in the united states. what has been the reaction there in israel? and so how that playing into his campaign? >> also mixed reaction in israel. it falls pretty much along party lines. netanyahu supporters think they did a good job. the result showing in the polls suggest that he hasn't done very well. he got a little bump after the congress talk and then slipped

back. so the polling now is moving slightly into the direction of the herzog-led group. the -- the relationship between israel and the united states is certainly the most important one for israelis in terms of security and well being. and there's a sense in israel that netanyahu has damaged that relationship in a serious way, and therefore probably the trip probably backfired on him. >> talk a bit about his opponent isaac herzog. tell us what the key differences between the two? obviously mr. herzog says that he want to repair the relationship between israel and the united states but what are other key differences? >> certainly there's a huge style in style and temperament. herzog is a mild mannered fellow. he's not charismatic but did recently well in holding

together the remnants of the party and making the coalition with the lebanese center right party. they now have a slight lead in the polls. he's done a pretty good job of political and electrical engineering. and the run-up to the vote. there are clearly differences in social spending and dealing with issues of employment, housing, immigration, things like that. there doesn't seem to be much difference at all on the bigger issues in terms of israeli/palestinian peace making negotiation. herzog came up with a platform this weekend, and it doesn't really show very much difference between the netanyahu position which is very hard line to continue settlements, annex much of the west bank and jerusalem. and there's not much difference on big issues between the two leading party. so this is very much going to be

decided by personalities and a sense of confidence. who do the israeli people trouft do what is best for the country. the big question now is is doing best for the country denominated in term of regional arab/israeli or israeli iranian tie or more in terms of domestic issues that what is best for israel is a strong internal economy and social justice for all. >> and voters will decide this coming tuesday as the vote is set. thank you so much for your time and insight there in bay you route. a new clue in the disappearance of three british schoolgirls. video shows them at a keyboarder crossing in turkey.

the kosher supermarket in paris that was the scene of a terror attack leaving four people dead is set to reopen on sunday. the shop has been closed since january 8th. police say a man held officers hostage before storming it killing him. the store has been renovated and restaffed. coulibaly's assault came two days after jihadists killed 12 at the offices of "charlie hebdo hebdo." new video shows three

schoolgirls who fled england last month to join isis. they are far from the only ones. cnn's suzanne malveaux has the story. >> reporter: new video today shows the three british teens who fled their homes last month crossing into syria. backpacks on and luggage handed off, the teens are fraught to be headed -- are thought to be headed to a list with isis. who is helping them? turkey's foreign minister says his country detained this syrian citizen. they say he's a spy from inside the u.s.-led coalition who helped the girls get into syria. >> translator: he works for the intelligence services of a country that's a member of the coalition. it is a very complicated situation. >> reporter: they are far from the only suburban teens to leave their families for the black flag of isis. the terror group says this australian boy blew himself up wednesday, and that there are, patiently waiting to do the same. according to the group,

18-year-old jake bellardi of melbourne killed himself in an iraqi suicide bombing. >> this say historic situation, an absolutely -- historic situation, an absolutely horrific situation. shows the lure the lure of this death cult to impressionable youngsters. >> reporter: isis posted these photos of the fresh-faced teen behind the wheel of a van that they say were snapped just moments before it exploded. bellardyi is said to be the author of this blog describing his journey to become a jihadist. in a january post foreshadowing his apparent suicide he writes "i put my trust in allah and signed myself up for a martyrdom operation," adding that he's waiting for his turn to sacrifice himself. bellardi describes his transition from aation dwroift supporter of islam and finally to a radicalized jihadist

writing the invasions of iraq and afghanistan gave birth to my disdain for the united states and its allies including australia. the more he learned about jihad, its benefits its importance and rewards for taking part in military operations to raise islam in the land the more i desired to join the mujaheddin. and he isn't alone. just last week two other australian teens were arrested at sydney's airport, suspected of trying to join isis. a cia source estimates more than 2,000 westerners from various countries have gone to fight in syria. >> that was cnn's suzanne malveaux reporting. an 18-month-old baby survives a violent car crash. the dramatic video as she's rescued from the scene. plus one country's plan to spend billions of dollars to build a brand new capital city. that as news continues here on "cnn newsroom."

hello, and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell. this is "cnn newsroom." the headlines this hour -- it israeli voters go to the polls tuesday, and new surveys show the center left zionist union alliance is expanding its lead over prime minister benjamin netanyahu's likud party. one poll indicates the zionist union will take 26 seats in parliament while liekud will take 22. an official is warning about what he calls an increase in russian military assertiveness. the head ofnorad says they've

flown more outside the airspace than any year since the cold war. parts of costa rica are covered in gray after a volcano spewed ash a kilometer into the air in its most powerful eruption in two decades. four explosions came from the volcano thursday in the central part of the country. ash reached parts of the capital, san jose 50 kilometers or about 31 miles away. in vanuatu, the government tells unicef six people are confirmed dead after a cyclone devastated the pacific island nation. the storm tore through the country with winds of up to 165 miles per hour or 270 kilometers per hour. may take some time to fully assess the damage the impact there since communication systems in many parts of the area remain down. earlier i spoke with chloe morrison with world vision. she offered more detail on the devastation in vanuatu's capital city of port villa. >> reporter: port villa looks

like an absolute bomb hit. it is devastating. i've just been thru for a drive around -- been through for a drive around. there are a lot of streets blocked off. trees haven't just fallen across the road here they've fallen across -- piled so my places you can barely see over the top. the water is incredibly rough. there are some villages that have just been decimated there. local huts which are made of. thatted roofs -- local huts that are made of thatched roofs are down. the wind sounded like an ocean, that's how strong it was. it pretty much drowned out the rain the sound of the wind. so shutters were hammering down on the windows. like i said these were some of

the most secure solid structures in port vila. all i could think is if you were not in a solid structure last night night, it would have been a very very tough time. >> the worst has passed but people still dealing with very strong winds. now to the u.s. state of utah. dramatic video that shows moment by moment of the rescue of a baby from a car partially submerged in a freezing river. rescuers estimate she'll been hanging upside down in her car seat for more than half a day. our affiliate ksl brings us the emotional rescue recorded on a police officer's body camera. [ siren ] >> reporter: as one of the first spanish fork officers responding to the call of a car in the river, this officer runs down into the water without hesitation. joining other first responders. a fisherman had called police to report the car was in the river and calling back 90 second later

when he could see someone trapped inside. >> what have you got? what have you got? >> reporter: three police officers two firefighters and the fisherman all jump into action. trying to flip the car over. >> come on! >> come on! [ bleep ] >> watch out. watch out. >> reporter: tragically they can see the driver of fatally injured in the crash -- driver was fatally injured in the crash. the situation of about to take on an even greater sense of urgency. >> anybody here? >> there's a baby. there's a baby. >> reporter: moments later a firefighter pull what's seems to be a small, lifeless body out of the car. >> got it? got it? pass her up. pass her up.

pass her up. here -- >> go go go! >> thank you. >> reporter: the officer and an emt carry lily up the rocks and triple crown arun to -- and run to a waiting ambulance. >> come o baby. she's hypothermic. she's freezing. go -- go! >> reporter: the officer starts patting her on the back hoping she will start to breathe and gives lily encouragement to live. >> come on sweetie. come on sweetie. >> reporter: they begin giving lily infant cpr and trying to warm her up as the ambulance rushes to the hospital. no one can feel a pulse. >> almost there. you getting a pulse? couldn't feel any. >> reporter: as the ambulance arrives to mount view hospital six minutes later a sign of life. >> that's all right. come on. >> reporter: lily starts to vomit as the officer runs her

into the emergency room. >> straight in. come on, baby. we've been doing cpr on her. she's been throwing up a little bit. >> the car was under water. >> reporter: doctors and nurses help to stabilize lily as the video ends. she is later flown to primary children's hospital. ♪ old mcdonald had a farm ♪ ♪ >> reporter: just four days later, this is lily. laughing and playing with her father just a few hours before she was released from the hospital. a truly mir action lougs recovery for -- miraculous recovery for a little girl who seemed lifeless when she was pulled from a wrecked car in the frigid water of the spanish fork river. >> amazing what these men did in that situation. just -- great reporting and that was a story from sam penrod with her affiliate ksl in utah. now we go to the case of the

boston marathon bombing. harrowing testimony reveals new details from the night the tsarnaev brothers went on a rampage through cambridge, massachusetts. ever includes surveillance video of a terrified driver talented by one of the brothers. here's cnn's deborah feyerick. >> reporter: these are the images the jury saw last -- 27-year-old man carjacked, the ba bombers racing away frantically asking a clerk to call 911 before crawling to a storeroom to hide. >> they have guns. they want to shoot at me. >> reporter: it was the break boston had been waiting for since the marathon attack three days earlier. the man testified that tamerlan tsarnaev pointed a gun and asked, "do you know the boston marathon explosion? i did it and i just killed a policeman in cambridge." >> over down. officer down. >> reporter: that policeman, mit officer sean collier, was shot

six times. once between the eyes. surveillance video shows two shadowy figures identified as tamerlan and dzhokhar approaching the cruiser. the brake lights flash as the brothers try to steal collier's gun. the confrontation lasts 50 seconds before the brothers run away. >> it sound like somebody's hitting a trash can really loud. >> reporter: prosecutors laid out their case in painstaking detail, showing the jury how the investigation unfolded with the fbi releasing these images of the suspected bombers. two men in baseball hats carrying backpacks walking together through marathon crowds. dzhokhar stops first taking his place behind families and children. tamerlan walks to the finish line where he stanz just below the red and white flag. several minutes later at 2:49 p.m. dzhokhar calls his brother. and then -- [ explosion ] >> reporter: dzhokhar moves quickly away from the back pam

he's left on the ground -- backpack he's left on the ground. as his bomb detonates, the energy seems to push him forward. tamerlan is capture on video walking away. the wounded lay shattered, torn open on the ground. three people are dead. 30 are so severely wounded they are clinging to life. the jury heard from trauma nurse jessica canski who saw her husband's detached leg and tried to help not realizing she herself was on fire. prosecutors showed her burned clothing. "it matches my scars," she testified. both of her legs now amputated. then 23 minutes after the terror attack across the charles river in cambridge, dzhokhar tsarnaev enters the whole foods and pays cash for a half gallon of milk. that night he tweets "ain't no love in the heart of the city. stay safe people." within 72 hours, tamerlan will be dead and dzhokhar tsarnaev will be hiding in a dry dock

boat writing a manifesto explaining why he and his brother did what they did. tsarnaev's lawyers have barely questioned any of the witnesses, and they did not dispute the images linked either to the carjacking or the mit shooting. cnn, boston. he has been missing from the public eye a bit. but it seems russian president vladimir putin has apparently reappeared. russian state tv aired this video showing mr. putin meeting friday with the head of the supreme court there. cnn cannot independently confirm when that meeting took place. but many are speculating about the reason behind the president's absence. senior international correspondent matthew chance has more from moscow. >> reporter: the mystery of the missing president, that's what i'm calling it. for more than a week vladimir putin has been nowhere to be seen. meetings and trips canceled without explanation. all very odd, and it's led to

furious speculation on media in russia and around the world. there are rumors that putin is sick seriously sick with cancer or suffered a stroke. that though has been categorically denied by the kremlin, spokesmen saying the russian president is "in perfect health. "there area also dark theories that he's been toppled in a kremlin coup although i've not seen any evidence so far. these are uneasy times in mouk. the russian economy is in free fall. the ukraine war has isolated the war internationally. and the key opposition leader has the nation on edge. it's not a great time for a president to be absent. >> cnn's matthew chance reporting there. the country of egypt is planning to build a new capital city. the 270 square-mile or 700 square-kilometer city will sit between cairo and suez. more than a million residential units will house five million

people. there will be a financial district and administrative district with a presidential palace ministries government bodies and embassies. the proposed city is expected to cost $45 billion. allegations of racism at a university of oklahoma fraternity. >> this way, i speak like this behind doors. and what i think it did was it opened up and exposed a lot of those bones that -- that were in the closet. >> now an attorney for the saes say the fraternity may be thinking about a lawsuit against the university.

another fraternity in the u.s. is in hot water after a racist and sexist e-mail allegedly sent by one of their members has surfaced. the e-mail was sent last year from a member of kappa sigma to six others at the university of maryland. it's filled with racial slurs and alludes to raping women. the fraternity released a statement saying this "the language and views expressed in the e-mail were inexcusable and are in stark contrast to the values of kappa sigma fraternity. they are counter to everything kappa sigma stand for." kappa sigma is currently taking action to expel the students

from that chapter. this incident comes after another story we first brought you here on "cnn newsroom." the university of oklahoma's chapter of sigma alpha epsilon disbanded after a video surfaced of members chanting racial slurs. now they are fighting back. the fraternity has hired a high-profile attorney who says he isn't ruling out a lawsuit against the school. he also says fraternity brothers are making death threats and some have been physically assaulted. miguel marquez with more. >> reporter: the alumni board for the new-defunct sae chapter says it's lawyered up because those former members of the fraternity are being threatened on campus testimony also says fraternity members and those that were expelled got a raw deal. [ chanting ] [ bleep ] >> reporter: the reaction to the reaction of the now-infamous video university of oklahoma sae fraternity brothers singing a racist song is on.

>> i think there was a premature rush to judgment. >> reporter: steven jones a high-powered oklahoma legal fixture. he represented timothy mcveigh the oklahoma city bomber. he's won high-profile first amendment cases. he even challenged current ou president david born for his senate seat in 1990. jones says he's not threatening a lawsuit yet. >> we believe that working together in a positive manner we can find a solution that is acceptable to jefferson to make this a teachable moment and an educational moment for what is seriously a flawed incident. >> reporter: jones says there is no justification for the video but the university and sae's national organization acted too swiftly in both hitting down sae's house and expelling two students. [ chanting ] >> reporter: for ou african-american students and others the video of anger

inducing and, in some ways satisfying shining a light on to racism they know is there but often impossible to prove. what environment did that video create on campus? >> you hear a lot of students who feel this way and speak like this behind doors. what i think it did was it opened up and exposed bones in their closet. >> reporter: campbell says threats against sae members is terrible but without the university's swift action the threats and anger across the entire university would have been worse. >> if they were on campus say now, right, it would definitely create a more will have environment than fwoufb they were removed -- than would have been if they were removed. >> reporter: sae's organization yanked the charter for the house and gave the fraternity members 48 hours to clear out, then expelled two students seen in the video. legal analyst jeffrey toobin

says if jones had a stronger case he'll be talking tougher. he's talking about a gentleman's agreement. is that possible? >> it's possible but lawyers who talk about gentlemen's agreements know they don't have a chance in court because otherwise they'd be saying we think we can win. >> reporter: the national organization has revoked the charter for the ou chapter for at least four years. it does say that new information comes along, it could change the time frame. so far no meeting scheduled between the university of oklahoma the national sae organization and this new lawyer steven jones. miguel marquez, cnn new york. >> we'll have to see how that plays out. britain's prince charles since down for an exclusive interview with cnn. a rare look at his private life and what he has to say about his wife's place in the royal family.

the british royal family including prince charles were on hand friday to mark the end of 13 years of military operations in afghanistan. military personnel paraded past royals, politicians, and top army officials outside st. paul's cathedral in london. queen elizabeth was also there. she led a commemoration service at the cathedral. great britain lost 453 service men and women in that war. their last combat troops left

afghanistan in october. britain's prince charles rarely opens up about his private life especially his relationship with wife camilla. but ahead of their ten-year wedding anniversary and a joint trip to the u.s. next week he spoke exclusively with cnn's royal correspondent, max foster. people cannot believe it's been ten years. and in that time and the duchess cornwall has defined her own public role hasn't she? has that been a challenge? >> you can imagine it is a real challenge. but she's, i think, been brilliant and -- in the way she's tackled these things. >> reporter: the duchess of of cornwall would have to overcome the perception of being "the other woman" and face a public that didn't know her particularly well and adored diana. over the years, the british public warmed to her as she stood by charles and yompyonned her own -- championed her own

interests. cnn has been given intimate access to her appearances. we watched her host a christmas party for sick children. seen her visit a school to promote writing. spent a day at the races. and followed her to the base of at infantry regiment. >> take it easy. >> reporter: one of the things that struck me obviously something that you know about her, is her charm and her humor. it's a side that doesn't always come across on television. but it's pretty powerful in real life isn't it? >> yes, it's a peculiar thing sometimes the camerament inevitably you can be more relaxed when it's slightly more private or when you're meeting people without being totally surrounded all the time by the dreaded camera.

>> for more of our inside look at the royal couple, be sure to watch "spotlight: charles & camilla" saturday at 5:30 p.m. london time here on cnn. happy pi day. not the pie that richard quest talks about in his promos. we're talking about the famed and irrational number. pi is 3.1415 followed by a string of decimals and pi day falls appropriately enough on march 14th 2015, with celebrations planned worldwide. true pi heads will mark the occasion at 9:26:53 precisely in the morning or evening. and if you forgot from your school days, pi is the ratio of circumference of a circle to its diameter. so happy pi day for those who are following. and thank you for joining us. i'm george howell. another hour of "cnn newsroom" is coming up next.

a disaster nest van wa to you just hours after cyclone pam ripped through the island chain. down to the wire israel's election just days away. current prime minister may be in trouble plus u.s. military officials are raising concerns that russia displayed what they call more threatening behavior. and the heart-stopping moment caught on camera when an infapt was rescued from a sinking car. hello and welcome to viewers