♪ prosecutor gives chilling details of what happened in the germanwings cockpit. saudi arabia defends its air campaign against rebels in yemen. and dramatic scenes in new york when a building is engulfed in flames and then collapses. hello. i'm natalie allen. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." it is 7:00 a.m. in the french alps and we begin this hour with a major development in the crash of germanwings flight 9525.

prosecutors now say co-pilot andreas lubitz deliberately crashed the plane into the mountains, killing all 150 people on board. meantime, families of the victims are gathering now for a second day near the crash site to see for themselves where their loved ones perished. we're covering this story from multiple angles this hour. cnn's rosie tompkins is standing by in the co-pilot's hometown with the latest on the investigation. airlinesratings.com editor jeffrey thomas is with us for analysis. but first let's go to erin mclaughlin. she joins us from near the crash site, where as we mentioned the families are in that area as well as the investigators continue to search for more clues. erin, what's the latest? >> hi, natalie. well, shocking developments in the investigation. yesterday the prosecutor gave a press conference in marseille.

in that press conference he said that based on analysis of the flight's cockpit voice recorder they now believe that the co-pilot deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately crashed the plane. he identified the co-pilot as 27-year-old andreas lubitz. now, here is what we know in terms of the timeline of what happened. at 10:00 a.m. in the morning on tuesday the plane took off from barcelona, spain to dusseldorf, germany. at 10:35 the plane reached a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet. shortly after that it's believed that the captain of the plane got up to go to the bathroom, leaving lubitz in charge of the aircraft. you could hear on the cockpit voice recorder that the captain had somehow gotten locked out. you could hear him screaming and trying to smash down the door. you can also hear the desperate

cries of the passengers while lubitz remains silent. the prosecutor yesterday saying that they believe that lubitz deliberately manipulated the controls of the plane to begin the descent. and by 10:40 the plane lost contact with radar at 6,175 feet. and as we all know, it eventually crashed tragically into the french alps. natalie? >> yes. and erin, as we mentioned, families have been brought in to the vicinity where the plane crashed. do you know anything more about what kind of support that they are getting? because right now they're still not finding many victims. is that correct? >> reporter: yesterday the family and friends of the victims arrived on board specially chartered flights from barcelona and dusseldorf. when they arrived in marseille, they were briefed by the prosecutor, who gave them the shocking conclusions that i just

mentioned, that they now believe the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane. from there they were taken to a village near the crash site for a memorial service overlooking the mountain in the back of which the plane wreckage lies. and then last night they also took part in a prayer service. now, many are thought to have gone home in the evening, though some thought also to have stayed, waking up this morning to the tragic reality that their loved ones have yet to be identified and the recovery process continues. natalie? >> yes. and we hear it could take perhaps weeks. erin mclaughlin for us there near the area of the crash site. let's bring in cnn's rosie tompkins. she is in andreas lubitz's hometown, where investigators are searching for answers. tell us what's going on from your vantage point, rosie. >> reporter: hi, natalie. yes, well, it's early morning here, a day after police first arrived to search the family home of andreas lubitz, the

27-year-old co-pilot who we now understand deliberately crashed the plane. i'm standing in front of his family home where we believe he lived with his parents. we also believe he had a brother. some neighbors have referred to knowing him and his brother when they were young. and these revelations that he deliberately kept the captain outside of the cockpit, that he deliberately crashed the plane, of course a terrible shock to members of the community here. now, the ceo of lufthansa, carsten spohr, spoke exclusively to cnn's fred pleitgen yesterday and gave us more information on how it was possible that lubitz was able to keep the captain outside of the cockpit in the way we believe he did. let's have a listen. >> we do have a safety procedure in place in case the remaining pilot gets unconsciousness. there is a way to open the door from the outside. unless the person inside locks it. and this apparently has happened here. >> so he blocked it from the inside as the pilot -- the captain was trying to get back

in? >> from what we know, he didn't allow access to the cockpit. that's exactly what the french authorities have so far informed us about. >> what did the captain try to do to get back in? is there a possibility to knock a door down at this stage of the game? >> after the terrible 9/11 accidents we have put in lufthansa like most airlines doors into our cockpit which are not to be broken by manual force. they're not even to be opened with small weapons. so there was no way to get back to the cockpit for the captain in this case the co-pilot was not allowing that access. >> reporter: so not allowed the access. meanwhile, the police desperately searching for clues as to why this young man who's been described as normal, as polite, as a lot of fun by pilots that knew him, why he would do such a thing. and of course families of the victims desperately waiting for answers. natalie? >> weet wait and see if the home brings them any clues to this mystery, yes, of why. thank you, rosie tompkins for us there in germany.

jeffrey thomas is the editor in chief and managing director at airlineratin airlineratings.com. he joins us now live from perth, australia. i've talked with you many times this past year, jeffrey. unfortunately yet again. another devastating crash that you are with us to help analyze. now that this is also a criminal investigation, what are the next required steps here in this investigation? >> well, the next steps are a detailed forensic examination of the co-pilot's life, his possessions. they're going to be looking particularly at a suggested problem he had in 2009, a health problem that has been alleged. this investigation will take in a variety of authorities in europe and probably even the

united states as they examine e-mail trails, colleagues across the world to try to piece together what was happening in this gentleman's life, what were the problems. and this may take weeks and may take months. but i'm very certain that the german and the french authorities who are leading this investigation will be rigorous and put a lot of resources into this to as quickly as possible get answers and bring closure to the relatives that are left behind from this terrible, terrible tragedy. >> yes. and we know that the french have also asked the fbi to assist in the investigation as well. we all know that pilot suicide, although extremely rare in commercial aviation, has occurred, and it's still a theory behind the disappearance of mh370. is that right? >> indeed. within the industry it is widely held that mh370, the loss of it,

is the result of actions, human intervention, most likely the pilot. that's the general consensus. but of course that's -- that is just a theory. based on all the pieces that we have. but as you suggest, it has happened before. egypt air flight 990 in 1999. silk air flight mi-195 in 1997. this will be about the 11th pilot suicide that we know of that has been proven. over the last 40 years. >> what do you think, geoffrey, about the fact lufthansa allowed for one person to be in the cockpit whereas other airlines have policies that no one person should ever be in the cockpit, another crew member must be in there at all times?

and do you think we're going to see some radical changes with this? >> yes, look, the u.s. airlines have led the way on this. they've had this policy in place of two crew in the cockpit at all times, be it the pilot and a flight attendant, when one of the pilots takes a break or goes to the restroom. however, this has not been widely adopted across the world, and in fact, most countries have not followed the united states' lead on this. malaysia airlines did so last year after mh370 because of the suspicions of the captain. and they wanted to reassure the traveling public. but in the late of this terrible tragedy on tuesday and the revelations on thursday that it was suicide, there have been an avalanche of airlines across the globe in the last 12, 18 hours that have said we are going to have -- to mandate two people in the cockpit at all times. canada's done it. new zealand's done it.

most of the uk airlines, european airlines, including the lufthansa group. and i believe australian airlines will probably follow suit as well. >> meantime, as we can see here, the investigation goes on there. the tedious process of trying to find pieces of this plane that was in effect pulverized when it hit that mountain. and again, for the families who are there in that region now. geoffrey thomas, we will talk with you again as this investigation proceeds. thanks for your time. >> thank you, natalie. we turn to other news. ahead this hour, saudi arabia and its allies press on with air strikes against houthi rebels in yemen. ahead, the role the u.s. is playing. also, a powerful explosion rocks new york city. it sent 19 people to the hospital and left this residential building crumbling to the street. hello. i am here to offer sophisticated investing strategies.

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saudi arabia says it will continue its military campaign against shiite houthi, but the rebels are threatening a deadly response. a saudi-led coalition of ten nations launched more air strikes in and around the capital city of sanaa on thursday. cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr has more on how the u.s. may get involved. >> reporter: in yemen's capital devastating air strikes from

saudi arabia. a new offensive to drive out iranian-backed rebels who seized control of the capital and key military sites. officials say the saudi campaign was quickly planned, catching top u.s. military commanders off guard. >> general, when were you told by the saudis that they were going to take military action in yemen? >> sir, i had a conversation with achad right before they took action. so shortly before. >> right before they took action. >> yes, sir. >> that's very interesting. >> reporter: the white house has already committed significant assistance. the u.s. military is helping the saudis plan bombing missions over yemen, providing targeting intelligence from satellites overhead and making awac surveillance planes and aerial refueling aircraft available as well. the general says he doesn't know if it will all work. >> i don't currently know the

specific goals and objectives of the saudi campaign. and i'd have to know that to be able to assess the likelihood of success. >> reporter: the u.s. military involvement, as sensitive as it gets. saudi arabia is backing beleaguered yemeni president hadi, who has fled his country. the rebels are backed by iran. the u.s. worries terror groups will exploit the chaos. >> there's a lot at stake here, particularly with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and isis both active in yemen. but let's face the facts. the u.s. is involved now in a proxy war between the saudis and the iranians. >> reporter: iran condemning the intervention. >> a very dangerous situation. and we advise against any escalation because we believe that any interference in yemen will simply lead to further loss of human life. >> reporter: barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> the saudi ambassador to the united states would not rule out

the possibility that his country would create nuclear weapons if iran had them too, saying saudi arabia does not negotiate when it comes to faith and security. he spoke with cnn's wolf blitzer about the role of iran in the conflict. >> is this really for all practical purposes a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran, which supports these shiite houthi rebels? >> this is really a war to defend the legitimate government of yemen and to protect the yemeni people from takeover by a radical militant group that is allied with iran and hezbollah. the yemeni government has tried repeatedly over the past year to reason with them, to negotiate with them, to go through a political process to resolve their differences peacefully and every time agreements were reached the houthi have reneged on every single one of them. >> egypt is one of the allies helping saudi arabia fight against the houthi rebels. the egyptian state news agency on thursday said egypt would also provide ground forces if

asked. cnn correspondent ian lee now joins me from cairo with the latest on this. ian, it just seems unreal that we've had all of this conflict in syria and iraq that is so xlexz and now we have yemen. and we have iran and saudi arabia involved and now egypt. >> reporter: well, natalie, this is unprecedented for egypt as well, to see this commitment for action in another country in this region. saudi arabia, though, asking for egypt for assistance in this. and egypt has come out full force, offering their air power, their naval power, and if needed their ground power. right now we know that at least four egyptian warships are in the red sea, protecting that stretch of waterway, and it's a very strategic stretch of water for egypt, as it is the entrance to the suez canal. really the land between -- or

the space between yemen and the african continent is only about 20 kilometers. that's 13 miles. that's not a large stretch. and egypt wants to prevent any sort of disruption to flow as well. but egypt is also beholden to saudi arabia. saudi has given the country billions of dollars in aid and support, and this is why we're seeing such a strong egyptian show of support for the saudi initiative, natalie. >> egypt has a history of fighting in yemen. now will that affect the decision to send in ground troops today? >> i think a lot of generals here are looking closely at the option of sending ground troops in. egypt fought a bloody war in the '60s akin to their vietnam. they lost many troops in this battle. and what we saw was really something that we would possibly see today.

egyptian troops and other troops going into these mountains yars of yemen where they're fighting a force they've been fighting in that area for hundreds of years. they know it very well. and they're very -- they're very -- they're very well at these guerrilla tactics. so it would be a very bloody engagement even today. so egyptian generals are very aware of what happened in the '60s, and they don't want to see a reoccurrence of that today, natalie. >> all right. it will be interesting to see what happens next. and again, the united states involvement as well. ian lee for us. the latest from cairo. thank you, ian. well, now we turn to iraq. the united states has joined in on the fight against isis in the city of tikrit. the u.s.-led coalition carried out 17 air strikes thursday, targeting isis checkpoints, staging areas, and a command facility. iraq's prime minister asked for help after isis insurgents repositioned themselves around the city.

the u.s. military got involved on the condition to iranian-backed shiite militias taking part in the operation withdrew from the front lines. well, a fiery blast ripped through a building in new york city. just ahead, the frantic and dramatic moments after the explosion. woman: it's been a journey to get where i am. and i didn't get here alone. there were people who listened along the way. people who gave me options. kept me on track. and through it all, my retirement never got left behind. so today, i'm prepared for anything we may want tomorrow to be. every someday needs a plan. let's talk about your old 401(k) today.

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a snap poll has declared british prime minister david cameron the winner in a televised confrontation with his top rival ahead of the uk's national elections. a guardian icm poll said viewers who were surveyed thought that mr. cameron beat labour party leader ed mill band 54% to 46%. it was not an ordinary debate. they didn't confront each other head to head. instead the contenders for prime minister separately took questions from a journalist and the studio audience. italy's supreme court hears defense arguments today in the case of american amanda knox and her former boyfriend in the murder of her roommate eight years ago. here's the background on this ongoing saga. knox and rafael sollecito were arrested in november 2007 accused of killing meredith kercher. knox and sollecito went on trial in 2009. they were both found guilty of murder later that year. knox was sentenced to 26 years

in jail. sollecito 25. they both appealed, and in 2011 a jury overturned their murder convictions. knox returned to her home finally in the united states. but in 2013 italy's supreme court overturned the acquittals and ruled knox and sollecito should be retried. the retrial ended with another guilty verdict. that was january 2014. well, the judges are expected to rule soon on whether their convictions and prison terms will stand or new trials will be held. we're watching that. in new york city this hour, it's in the middle of the night, 2:30 in the morning. fire crews are still working to extinguish pockets of flames at the scene of a huge building explosion. this was the scene in manhattan's east village shortly after the blast thursday afternoon. huge flames engulfed parts of one building, and the intense heat caused another to collapse.

>> it's okay. you need to sit down, honey. you need to sit down. sir. >> witnesses say several bloodied people emerged from the smoldering residential and retail building where the blast appeared to come from. at least 19 people are injured. four are in critical condition. the cause is still under investigation. but new york city mayor bill de blasio says it appears to be gas-related. well, again, our top story. we now know that the pilot of germanwings flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit before the plane crashed in the french alps. we'll take you inside a flight simulator to see how a pilot could be locked out, when we come back. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables

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i'm natalie allen. you're watching cnn. here are the top stories this hour. search teams will be back out in the french alps today looking for the flight data recorder from germanwings flight 9525. they're also scouring the mountainous terrain. and you can see how tedious it is right there, for human remains. they have found very little in that regard. the french government is asking the fbi to help in the investigation. saudi arabia says ground troops are a possibility in yemen if needed.

warplanes continue targeting shiite houthi rebels thursday. other nations including the sunni allies of sudan, jordan, and morocco also sent fighter jets. so far the u.s. has promised only intelligence and logistical support. the mayor of new york city says a huge explosion that leveled two buildings appears to be gas-related. no one was trapped in the buildings, but 19 people were injured according to the new york fire department. crews remain on the scene right now in the middle of the night trying to put out pockets of flames. we return to our top story, the crash of germanwings flight 9525. investigators say the co-pilot, andreas lubitz, locked the pilot out of the cockpit. that's the co-pilot there. and crashed the plane on purpose. the airbus a-320 took off from barcelona bound for dusseldorf just after 10:00 a.m. tuesday. the plane climbed to a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet at 10:27

a.m. that's when the captain began knocking on the cockpit door. moments later, transponder data shows the autopilot was reset intentionally and by hand from 38,000 feet down to 100 feet. now, to help us understand how that situation could have transpired there on the plane, why the captain had no possible way of opening that door from the outside, we learn more about that from kyung lah. >> reporter: he cannot imagine why a pilot would do this. >> terrain, terrain. >> reporter: but bugs forsyth knows how. a retired military commercial pilot, forsyth says he's flown thousands of hours in the a-320 cockpit, one of the safest high-tech passenger jets used around the world. >> normal, lock, and unlock. >> reporter: he like all pilots has used the switch hundreds of

times. >> unlock you have to pull up and hold it. lock comes on, says the door's open. but if i release it it goes back to normal position. >> reporter: norm means that it's locked. >> norm is locked. that's correct. >> reporter: according to an airbus operations video, there's a keypad entry on the outside that allows entry if you know the code. but if the person inside the cockpit switches it to lock, the keypad won't work for five minutes. and there's another override that goes beyond five minutes. >> i can also override the keypad and hold it in the locked position, and now he cannot use the keypad or enter the door at all. it is locked. >> reporter: no one can get in? >> no one can get in. >> reporter: so to keep your co-pilot out what do you have to get in? >> to keep him out if he knew the keypad number to get in i just hold the lock. he cannot get in. >> reporter: can you manually fly this and hold the lock button? >> oh, yes. easy. >> reporter: then that's a very purposeful act. >> very much so. >> pull up.

>> reporter: again and again, we fly through the scenarios, in autopilot and manual. both manage to crash the plane. and both had to be deliberately programmed or flown into the ground. what does that suggest to you as far as his determination? >> that he was very determined. yeah. that was his goal. he had a mission or a goal to kill himself and everybody on board. we deal with terrorists, people that aren't supposed to be in the cockpit. this person's supposed to be in the cockpit. that's what's scary. >> reporter: 150 people lost in this air disaster. the who, the how we now know. the why, far from known. kyung lah, cnn, las vegas. >> let's get more analysis now. bringing in cnn aviation analyst and my former colleague miles o'brien. miles, good to see you. thanks for joining us. you're also the science correspondent for pbs news hour. and you are live for us from tokyo. hello, miles. i want to start with that cockpit door, since kyung lah

just reported on that aspect. certainly it was designed after 9/11 to keep the bad guys out, and now it apparently kept a bad one in. and no way for the crew to get around that security. >> yeah. i mean, imagine this. that in the wake of 9/11 the presumption was the bad guys would be on the other side of the door. how do you create a security system that works in both directions? and that's what we're talking about here. one of the simple ways the airlines in the united states have adopted is to insist upon two crew members on the flight deck at any given time. so if one of the pilots has to leave the flight deck for whatever reason a flight attendant typically goes and sits in. if nothing else just to open and close the door. but in this case might have averted a tragedy. it's a simple procedure, but it works. >> right. and we know that already some european airliners are changing

the rules to allow for two people always in that cockpit. we've huh on for analysis many times in this past year for various crashes, unfortunately. but what do you make of the circumstances, miles, in that cockpit? the data indicating, pointing the finger at a deliberate act by a co-pilot. >> well, i think you have to look at some of the underlying causes here, natalie. this pilot, with give or take 600 hours, is an infant of a pilot. with only 100 hours of experience on the airbus a-320. someone like that under any circumstances, taking aside potential suicide or terror or whatever the malicious intent might be, should never be left alone in a cockpit of an airliner with paying passengers. bad things happen in aviation very quickly. it's an unforgiving endeavor. and this is a pilot who is not up to speed by any stretch of

the imagination. in the united states somebody in that seat would have more than twice as much time, would have what's called an airline transport certificate, which is kind of a ph.d. of flying. that is a lot more experience and a lot more knowledge about aviation. and really is kind of a bare minimum bar that we should all demand for all pilots who are sitting on aircraft all over the world. >> right. because i had read that he only had 100 hours on this particular airplane and that is not a lot. and he's only been with lufthansa, he was only with the airline for two years. and we also learned that they do mental health screening when they're first hiring but lufthansa doesn't do any more mental health screening after that. and lufthansa has quite a phenomenal record. >> they do. and you know, generally

speaking, there's been -- the procedure over the years is that airline pilots evaluate each other. who best than the person you're sitting next to for a long flight to determine if there might be something awry, some sort of mental health instability problem? and this vetting process has actually worked pretty well over the years. but when you have somebody in that position of responsibility with so little experience and so little vetting, you open yourself up to risk. collectively speaking, who knew this pilot at that airline very well at this point? and there he was with this tremendous amount of responsibility. and i'd be willing to guess on this short haul airline that was probably the first time he was at the controls of an a-320 alone. was this an opportunity he was just waiting for? >> right. because who's to say that -- it was a relatively short flight. that the pilot would need to leave the cockpit on a flight that's not that long.

and also, there are a lot of things, of course, miles as people are always doing, trying to figure out how to keep something like this from happening again. we talk about could there be some sort of remote technology to keep an airplane from suddenly going down like this on purpose. and why such a reluctance by pilots for cameras in the cockpit? we have cameras on police dashboards and trains and buses. we have body cameras on police officers. why the reluctance? >> you know, i frankly don't fully understand it. i think pilots are really wrong about this. and it's the same argument that was offered up several generation as go when they first started about recording voices in the cockpit. they said why on earth would we ever need that? that's not going to enhance safety. and of course that's patently false. more information is better.

we have the technology. the camera wouldn't have stopped this event, but if you put it in the context of cameras, of treating data from an aircraft when there's trouble on an aircraft, why not if that is the case why not have the ability onstar style to be able to open that cockpit door from the ground? all that technology is right here, right now and is simply a matter of money. these airlines do not want to be forced to pay for these kinds of things. regulators have to insist on that. and for regulators to do that we as passengers need to insist on this. >> i was interested that one tweet earlier came in to cnn that said why are they using such old technology just of audio, as someone young probably not understanding why not put video in that cockpit? we always appreciate your help. thanks so much, miles. science correspondent with pbs. thank you, miles. good to see you. stay with cnn for the latest developments on the crash of

germanwings 9525. and you can follow the news coming from our teams in the field, from wherever you are by logging on to cnn.com/germanwings. if you have questions about the crash let us know. send us a tweet with the hashtag germanwingsqs. we may pose your question to one of our experts. we appreciate everyone's input. let's get now to the weather t p the crash site. derek van dam has been following that. we see the teedium of what they're dealing with with what's left at this crash site and the conditions. how are the conditions? >> fortunately they've had a narrow window of good weather in the past 24 hours. but that window is closing very quickly. we're not talking about rain and snow being the conditions. we're talking about strong winds. and considering the helicopters flights flying the crews in and out of this very mountainous terrain, you can imagine how dangerous it is to do some of

those missions over to the crash site. let's take a look at some of the conditions expected for the next 24 hours or so. this was the conditions on thursday. as you can see, clear skies for the helicopters as they did the missions, bringing the crews in and out of this very narrow ravine, which is by the way only about 250 meters wide. so leaving very little room for error for the pilots. now, anything below 30 kilometers per hour over a mountainous terrain really flows quite naturally. but when we're talking about wind gusts in excess of 30 kilometers per hour, which we have in the forecast for today, we start to see what is called turbulent eddies. these are circulation patterns that are created by the mountain ravines and all the narrow crevasses. think of it as kind of an analogy. almost like a flowing river of water. that would be the air. as it gets basically damnmed up behind the mountain ranges.

it will come up and over the sxhounz speed up as it does so. we start to get strange fluctuations in the river water or the air. and that's going to create some very tricky maneuvering patterns for those helicopter pilots considering that they need to hover for often several minutes at a time to winch the recovery crews down into the ravine for the crash site. so really that's going to impact them on their takeoff, their landing, and their hovering maneuvering as they head toward the crash landing site. look at the wind forecast going forward. we have 70-kilometer per-hour gusts expected through the course of the day today. so very windy weather. it's not the rain and snow that's going to hamper the recovery effort. it's going to be the wind going forward over the next 24 hours. fortunately, it does appear as if the winds will start to improve as we head into saturday afternoon. not a major weather system moving through at this stage. it's a dry cold front. but again, winds, you can imagine what that does in mountainous terrains.

it creates those spins, turbulence. we've all felt that before as we fly in aircraft. it's very tricky. >> at least it's not a high enough altitude to have snow right now. >> at the moment that's probably the best news they could have. >> okay, derek, thanks very much for that part of the story. well, still ahead here, they were driven from their homes by boko haram. we'll go inside the camp where internally displaced nigerians are trying to eke out a new life one day at a time. denver international is one of the busiest airports in the country. we operate just like a city, and that takes a lot of energy. we use natural gas throughout the airport - for heating the entire terminal, generating electricity on-site, and fueling hundreds of vehicles. we're very focused on reducing our environmental impact. and natural gas is a big part of that commitment. and i can't wait to startlanta

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welcome back. nigerians go to the polls this weekend for parliamentary and presidential elections. they could be the most significant vote on the african continent this year. here's what you need to know about it. the nationwide vote election was delayed six weeks. it's now set for saturday. voters will choose a president. incumbent goodluck jonathan is running for a second term. seats in the house of representatives and senate also at stake. more than 68 million nigerians are registered to vote, but some 12 million are still without the identity cards needed to cast a ballot. well, a key election issue in nigeria is who will lead the country as it wrestles with the rise of boko haram. thousands of nigerians have been displaced within their own borders, driven from their homes by militants with this brutal extremist group which has killed

so many innocent people. cnn visited a camp where people have sought refuge in northern nigeria. >> reporter: the cathedral complex is home to 3,000 people. but you wouldn't know it. tired of waiting for help, all who are able file into town during the day to eke out whatever living they can. all but the youngest children and the women. who wait with empty cooking pots. this is actually the medical center that was set up here on the church grounds to help with some of the needs the displaced people have. it is actually run by a woman from the community here who's herself displaced. rachel raffa does what she can with what little they have, dealing with everything from malaria to childbirth. >> i feel i need to help. i saw the way people were so lonely, so helpless. and seriously sick.

>> reporter: yoela town in nigeria's new york has doubled in size since the flood of displaced people fleeing boko haram began. the adnauer peacemakers initiative, a local aid group funded by the american university of nigeria, has been helping support the bishop, but now even they say they're running out of funds. nigeria's military has stepped up its campaign against boko haram in recent weeks, and perhaps these people will soon be able to go home, but here there are no guarantees. and for now they must wait. it's breakfast time at kama kamai tumba's house. these days his household extends well beyond his wife and children to the strangers he's hosting in this three-room home. how many people are living with you here? >> now we reach about 30 something now. >> how have you been feeding them? >> that one, it is the work of

god. >> reporter: joseph belo's father died in the boko haram attack on their home. then his wife's mother fell sick and died in the government-run displacement camp they sought refuge in. >> to me as my choice i can't stay in the camp. people were suffering there. no food, nothing. when they bring the food, people will take it out, will give it to people who weren't even displaced. >> he's not the only person we spoke to who made such allegations, and similar reports have surfaced in recent weeks. the government hasn't granted journalists access to the government-run camps and hasn't responded to claims of abuse there. our requests for comment from the national emergency management agency went unanswered. local aid groups estimate hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons now live there but only 10,000 live in the official camps. after everything they've seen most it seems would rather rely on the kindness of strangers

than their government. in what was kumai and his wife's bedroom we noticed two newborns. >> how old are they? >> this 24, this now -- >> so when you left mishika they were pregnant? >> yes. >> so you had to run while pregnant? >> yes. some deliver in the bush there. >> reporter: the realities of life here feel a world away from nigeria's oil-rich south. as the countdown to the upcoming elections begin, northern nigerians are determined to give voice to their frustrations. >> if you vote you can get your rights. that's why we want to vote. pray for god to difference a good leader. >> reporter: back at the cathedral grounds the men have begun to return. the women can now start to cook. they say it's by the grace of god they've survived another day. they hope they won't need to

live through many more before they can finally go home. naim elbagir, nigeria. >> what a telling story there. we certainly hope their lives get better somehow. well, we have this just in to cnn. an explosion in the southern pakistan city of karachi has wounded some 20 people. a police official tells cnn the blast came from an i.e.d. that was attached to a parked motorcycle and detonated as a bus passed by. so far no claims of responsibility. we'll have more details as we get them. "newsroom" continues after this. hello. i am a fully automated investment advisory service. i can help you choose investments. monitor them. and rebalance your portfolio. i can do a lot of what humans can. except have a real conversation. if you'd like that, you can always speak to someone at schwab.

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you can even lock and unlock your transunion credit report from your phone. and all that information feels pretty good. come to transunion.comand get in the know. scott kleeelly along with t russian cosmonauts will lift off for a trip to the international space station. kelly will stay there for nearly a year. cnn's rachel crane has more on why this zero-gravity marathon is crucial for the future of space travel. >> reporter: scott kelly is on a mission to become the first american to spend an entire year on the international space station. that's nearly twice as long as any other american has ever stayed in space.

kelly will spend 12 months orbiting the earth. and besides just being away from his family for a year, kelly will also be away from something we all take for granted -- gravity. and that will have a profound impact on his body. kelly will take part in a bunch of studies to find out how low gravity impacts his eyes, his heart, his bones, even his brain. about a third of american astronauts have developed vision problems. it may be because without gravity bodily fluids float up to their heads, causing structural changes in their eyes. but that theory has never been fully tested. nasa scientists have documented cardiac arrhythmias and decreations in heart function in space flight. spend a long time off the planet and your bones thin. this puts astronauts at a greater risk for broken bones and osteoporosis. how does being confined on a space station for long periods of time affect your thoughts and

your behavior? nasa says knowing this is crucial if we're ever going to mars or deep space. but how do we know if being in space is the cause of kelly's body changes? nasa has the perfect specimen to compare him to. his twin brother, retired astronaut mark kelly. mark kelly has volunteered for nasa's twin study to see how the identical twins change over a year in very different environments. so mark will be here on earth getting poked and prodded by researchers while scott makes history in orbit. kelly won't be alone on the space station. a russian cosmonaut also is taking part in the one-year mission. and several other crew members will rotate in and out during kelly's stay. >> we wish him well. you've been watching "cnn newsroom." thank you for joining us. we have more live news for you. george howell joins me once george howell joins me once again for the next hour. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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german police searching for clues, raiding the home of the co-pilot who's believed to have crashed the germanwings plane deliberately. plus, details about what happened inside the cockpit in those final moments. then, lufthansa's ceo speaks exclusively with cnn about whether or not the co-pilot was fit to fly. hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell.