we are learning more about the gunman who tried off to ambush a prophet muhammad cartoon contest in texas including one suspect's possible links to isis. plus, with just two days before elections in the uk, a new poll suggests the race is dead even. and cnn speaks exclusively with a new york university student who has been detained inside

north korea. hello, welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm rosemary church. this is "cnn newsroom." thank you for joining us, everyone. the fbi is investigating possible in the national terror links in the shooting at a prophet muhammad cartoon contest in texas. a policeman shot and killed two gunmen outside the event sunday night. after one of them wounded a security officer. the contest was held by an organization that critics say is anti-muslim. the gunman were wearing body armor and had assault rifles. one of the men apparently, pledged his allegiance to isis. and his family said they had no idea of his plans. ken law went to arizona where the shooters lived and as she reports, no one saw them as the

a threat. through this busted door way the gunmen lived. he grew up in pakistan and still has family there. elton simpson, convicted of lying to federal agents in 2011, but no other history of violence. neighbors and their apartment complex saw nothing outwardly alarming from the two roam mates. ariel whitlock had been texting simpson who put his car up for sale. >> i'm getting goose bumps right now. i wanted to buy that car. and knowing it is on, like, on the news i see it, just blowing up. i was going to purchase that car. you don't think like, maybe he is just going to go plot something. you are giving the money to help him go plot something. like how i feel now. that's crazy. >> neighbor tim rains never suspected, in fact he saw nadir sufi as a good samaritan, who helped him. in a medical emergency.

>> you had contact with one of the men? >> one time a year ago. he, uh -- i come home. walking up this. i had a heart condition. i collapsed over here on to this steps, stairwell. and he seen all that. he came over and offered me help. >> how do you reconcile that with a guy who drives to texas and shoots people? >> it's easy. everybody has a good side to them. if you see some body hurting like that you are going to help him. i think he want to texas to shoot people for a reason. >> reporter: the reason appeared to be inspired by isis. on simpson's twitter feed he wrote, the bro with me and myself have given allegiance to amirul mumineen, the pseudonym of isis, his last tweet. the first clues date back to the 2011 arrest. talking to an fbi informant over years, court records show simpson wanted to go to somalia

to fight. recorded on wiretaps saying, if you get shot or you get killed it's heaven straight away. heaven. that's what we are here for. so why not take that route. try to make us become slaves to men. know, we slave to allah. we going to fight you to the death. attorney kristina sitton defended simpson when the fbi arrested him. >> there are lots of questions of whether he may have been some one who had fall in through the cracks. do you look back on the case and wonder the same thing? >> no. i don't. he was on probation for three years. he don't have any violations. he didn't have any problems that i was aware of. i don't feel like he was ever a danger or ever, someone that was going to be harmful. perhaps he just got angry and did a terrible thing. >> sufi's face book page reveals strong opinions but no call to violence. but there is a 4-year-old note asking for forgiveness. asking for forgiveness for every sin, intentional, unintentional,

secret, open and public. their plan so secret that the mosque president spent years with both men at services and never saw either as a threat. >> you have -- they have two members that -- -- they didn't show any signs of radicalization. or any signs of thinking about those things in that manner. so when that happens. it's just, it just shocks you. how good did you know these people. that's the question that people ask themselves. i want to bring in will getties to talk more about the possible terror ties, managing director for international corporate protection. the group helps support and protect companies and governments against al qaeda affiliates. will joins us via skype from london. thank you for talking with us.

will getties, we know that one of the suspects, elton simpson, linked himself to isis in a tweet just before that shooting. but going by what we know so far would you kid them to be lone wolves who had aspirations to be a part of isis, or do you think they had tied to international terrorism? >> i think tip is alall -- i thk it is always difficult at this early stage. i think some of the indicators and signatures at the moment would lead within to speculate this is a home grown, lone wolf type of activity. judging by the sort of format or process for attack. they were thwarted easily. it didn't appear that they did a considerable amount of planning before this. if they've had this situation

would have gone differently. >> yeah, i wanted to look at that. the two suspects had asaumesaul rifles. can we assume they were not well travenltd if that its the case what does that tell you? >> certainly what it would tell me they may have limited access to some of the isis, out there at the moment which is promoting these kind of low wolf types of attacks. certainly within those publications. which are being vigilantly monitored by the various agencies out there. showing them and giving them the methodologies of carrying out the attacks. we look at the two races. certainly i would have expected, if they had been well planned. they've had some training. if they had been tutored by, like more experienced combatants. they would have been certainly other aspects. we have seen before, by lone

actors in terms of detouring the police and agencies also trying to be successful in their attack. >> we know now that the two suspects shared an apartment. investigators are searching that apartment. in an effort to find any information that can help explain the motive behind at take. also. help pull together a time line of the flot. what are they like tee to find. it is it obvious the motive here? >> well, again, i think what we have here is this particular event. these types of events. they are going to contract. bear in mind. sympathizers. like al qaeda. extreme in every sense of the word. and sim pa thighethey're mental. the events will draw over actions of mag knelts who will want to pin their agenda.

looking at these two, i am sure no doubt. the agencies will discover a bit of propaganda. few communications. and they'll be, in this link, to the british individual that, iss. >> thank you so much for sharing your perspective. we do appreciate it. all right. we want to turn to baltimore now where national guard troops are pulling back after officials lifted a night time curfew. but all is not calm in city where a black man, freddie gray, died while in police custody last month. this was the scene, monday, officers subdued a suspect. carrying a handgun. his weapon went off during the arrest. drawing a crowd. sparking false rumors, police shot the man. a reminder of the distrust between community and police inthe city.

as the the accusations of a shooting were flying in baltimore, u.s. president barack obama was visiting new york. he addressed the ongoing racial tensions at a taping of the late show with david letterman. >> today, a young officer lost his life doing his job. and you know, families, officers across the country every day they're, wondering, is my loved one going to come home. they got a really tough job. what we also know is that -- far too long for decade you had a situation in which too many communities don't have relationship of trust with the police. if you have a handful of police not doing the right thing. that makes the job tough foreall the other politician officers out there. it creates an environment in the community where they feel as if, rather than being protected and served, they're the targets of

arbitrary arrests or stops. so our job has to be to rebuild trust. >> at an earlier speech in new york the president said he plans to devote most of his time to improving urban communities after he leaves office in 2017. israeli advocacy group says military inflicted, massive, unprecedented harm to palestinians during the car, the group, breaking the silence interviewed 60 war veterans. the report says troops were told to regard everything in gaza as a threat. one soldier said there were not really rumz of engagement. -- really rules of engagement. >> we saw the house on the coastline. 4 1/2 kilometers away. no one knew where it was or what neighborhood it was in. it posed no threat to us. it wasn't part of the operation. away from any possible danger.

but it was orange. and that color drove me nuts. now i am the gunman. i control all of the artillery systems. i aim. i amount one who shoots. you see everything going on. this orange house drove me crazy the entire time we were there. one day i tell my platoon commander, i want few shoot hat that orange house. he said, go for it. and we fired. >> the israeli defense forces -- did not provide proof of its claims. israel's president says violent appropriate test in tel aviv sunday. underscores an open, wound at the heart of society. and reports on the beating of an israeli soldier by israeli police. and the prime minister's response to it. >> the short video from a security camera, a suburb of tel aviv swept israel and sparked waves of angry protests against police. at the center of the video is

the 21-year-old soldier, to see in uniform. he was trying to reach his house, a block away. when bliss stopped him from reaching the street. no sound on the tape. no clear what each party said. you got his permission to cross. when the officer grabbed his week. he urged him not to use force. by then, another officer joined. you can see him tushd to the ground and held down. there is no way to explain the feeling. only god and i know how i felt, he says. first of all, degrading, you are a soldier, serving the country. giving all of yourself. it is degrading. >> he gets to his feet. he puts it down. the situation appears to quiet down. officers say both have been dismissed the incident is still under investigation. the video set off protests across israel and ethiopian/jewish community.

1,000 demonstrators gathered thursday night. looked like hundreds more in tel aviv. protesters blocked off streets in rush hour. still it remand peaceful. when the protests moved few of robbie's square. t police fired tear gas and used water cannon. and what was a paelsful afternoon. became authorities. urged restraint. it was bell past midnight when the final protesters left. >> i am for the dem mon jagss. but against violence. whether it is on policemen or civilian. nobody should get hurt. a pity. i am for the dem men stragss. i am completely for them t the protest thousands were not just about the video, but about what ethiopians see as years of discrimination at the hand of police and authorities. the video was the tipping point.

community leaders met with the prime minister to try to ease the unrest in the community and to begin to address the bigger ish issue of discrimination. he expressed interest in us, the family and community, he says. and to help as prime minister he will now do the right thing. the prime minister says he saw the pictures and was shocked by what he saw in the beating video. prime minister can't let things happen like this again. all sides opening it is the protest for change. >> and, we will turn our attention to the uk elections coming up after the break. my colleague errol barnett is live in london all this week. he joins me. >> the e if you follow the polls you will know that this race could not be any tighter. whul wit that mean for the future of the uk? we will talk more about that right after this live from

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we are just two days away from polls opening in the united kingdom. it is going to be a close election. a ugov/uk poll of voter intentions taken sunday shows a tight race between the conservatives and labor. look at the numbers. the parties are tied for the lead at 33%. ukip third in the poll with a slight lead over the liberal democrats clear lead over the greens. keep in mind there is a margin of error of three percentage points. let's go live again to errol barnett who has all the latest from london. errol, when it is as tight as this, pressure is on, on all of the leaders. >> you are absolutely -- excuse me. you are absolutely right,

rosemary. the pressure is on. the uncertainty is palpable. leading to excitement ahead of the election. we are in the final stretch here. candidates not wasting any time. these final days before voting begins. they hit the road monday to appeal to supporters. and sway any of the undecided voters. i can tell you there are many. prime minister and conservative party leader david cameron went to bath. he said his government will move the country forward. if he stays in office, cameron plans to have a referendum on british membership in the european union by end of 2017. cameron's opponent was in brighton where he emphasized plans to have the british government work for the working people. the leader of the independence party, or ukip, quite a big personality. he wants to pull britain out of the eu.

ahead of liberal democrats, nick cleg. he became junior partner with the conservatives. monday, campaigned against both cameron and milliband. joined by robin oakley. politics makes for interesting bedfellows. you have him coming out hard against his former coalition partner and ed milliband. tells you about the pressure right now. >> neither of the two major party leaders, they're insisting they're going to win, outright, majorities, they don't really believe it. at heart. and they know that this is a battle that is going all the way to the line. every vote counts. but either of them. david cameron or ed milliband may need the remaining liberal democrats, going to be smaller in the next parliament than the

last. they might lead them as partners. the two party leaders, are trying to appeal to voters. david cameron, promising tax cuts. ed milliband. saying under the conservatives, national health service is going to go to peaches. he has documents which he says show national health service is going to have a deficit. 2 billion pounds. scare story there from labor. but everything to pay for. one of the keys will be if we get tactical voting. could upset pole predictions. is it true that nick may not been his own seat. >> that's been ape possibility. lessens the likely of liberal democrat participation in a coalition with the conservatives. used to be a conservative seat. it is under threat from labor this time around. but there are strong indications, conservatives are

pitching in and, in order to stop labor. the liberal democart leader. conservatives in the seat will hoet,000 fo for him and preserved, needed by them. as a coalition partner again. >> what's stunning the usp, at the front of the political conversations in election. the liberal democrats have suffered as a result of being part of the cost coalition and breaking a promise on student fees. >> we live in disillusion. politics, the class. used to be outsiders. they were there for protest votes. once they moved into government. a brave decision. joined the conservatives they lost capacity to not pull themmen appropriate test votes. then, part of the literal they suffered breaking promises on tuition fees for university of

of students. and they made a hef price for being in coalition. not to say they won't be in a coalition in the future. but nothing, not necessarily with the conservatives. >> which coalition will they be part of of. we should mention that his suffering because of that broken promise, has the left a space now for the outsiders. >> not going to be part of any serious part of any coalition there. two, three seats that they might win. might pitch in with the right. when coalition, itch that's, emerges from the election. ukip, key in this election, what effect they will have in the marginal seats. closely fought seats between lay bore and conservative. the capacity and parliamentry by elections -- elections. take two seats in the conservatives. nearly took one that was labor held seat.

not just ksh groups can drift over. conservatives have the bigger worry. their leader in smith has appealed in the newspaper interview to ukip voters and said "it its a suicide vote, if you vote ukip." please come back to the voters, the conservatives are the only party that is going to give tight you. irony for ukipp if they damage them too much they don't get their political frietry. >> there is still the potential for surprises and twists and turns as we approach the last few days here. toward the uk election on thursday. back to you. >> exactly right. you can be sure likely what is to happen. many thanks, errol. you can find much more on the uk elections on our website including a look at why americans need to pay attention to thursday's vote. find that and more at cnn.com.

>> in the united states, the race for the presidency just got a little more diverse. former huceo, carly fiorina, an ben carson. the field now include two latinos, a woman and african-american. fiorina says her campaign will essentially neutralize any advantage democart hillary clinton might have with women. and woe have a cnn exclusive inside north korea's demilitarized zone. coming up. that plus, air strikes in yemen. ravage the palm springs air strips. we'll show you the latest depth.

welcome back, everyone. you are watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. want to check the headlines for you this hour. in the u.s. authorities in texas are investigating the motive of two gunmen who opened fire outside of an exhibit featuring controversial cartoons of the muslim prophet muhammad. both shot and killed by police. one of the suspects linked himself to isis on twitter before the shooting. >> a report by an israeli advocacy group says israel inflicted massive unprecedented harm to palestinians during the war with hamas in gaza last year. israel defense forces says the group breaking the silence has

refused to provide evidence of its claims. >> we are just two days away from one of britain's closest elections in decades. right now it appears no party will win an outright majority. latest poll, take taken sunday shows a dead heat between david cameron's conservatives and the labor party. >> now for an inside look from one of the world's most secretive regimes. cnn's will ripley was invited back to north korea for the second time in eight months. this time he met with a student from new york university who has been detained in north korea. 21-year-old juan moon ju was arrested last month when he snuck into the country from china. in an exclusive interview, the south korean-american resident tells ripley why he did it.

>> why did you go into north korea? >> well, i thought that by my entrance, illegally, i acknowledge, i thought that some great event could happen. and hopefully that event could have, good effect in the relations between north and south. >> what kind of great event did you think could happen? >> i am not completely sure yet. but i hope that i, i will be able to tell the world. how entered illegally. but however with the generous treatment of the dprk, i will be able to return home safely. >> now a rare look at one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. the small strip of land separating north and south korea. will ripley was there and spoke exclusively to a north korean.

>> reporter: like troops heading into battle they follow banners marving into work. mobilization is a part of daily life for this militarily nation. right now on the main road, south from pyongyang to the abort border between north and south korea. known as the dmz. the dmz is anything but demilitarized. this barren road takes us to cease-fire line that ended the brutal fighting of the korean war in 1953. brutal fighting in 1953. today a heavily fortified border, with both sides prepared for war. >> this junior colonel is part of north korea's standing army of more than one million. 3/4 stationed close to the dmz. he calls it the most tense place on the planet. more than 60 years after the cease-fire. north and south korea are technically at war. >> this is where you used to negotiate with the m cans. negotiate with the americans.

here they teach a different version of history. america is the real culprit, he says. but still the americans deny the truth. the tension is palpable as we approach the border. is there a real danger here of something breaking out? >> yes. >> armed soldiers stand just feet from the border. the scene of occasional deadly violence in the years since the cease-fire. as we enter a building. straddling the line between north and south. an ominous warning of a bigger danger. the americans have been threatening with nuclear weapons. since the days of the korean war. >> is that why north korea continues to develop its own nuclear program. >> that's why we have equipped ourselves with nuclear weapons to counter the american nuclear threat. no country with a nuclear weapon has ever been attacked. a report leaked by "the wall street journal." claims chinese experts recently

warned the u.s. they say pyongyang has 20 nuclear devices and expected to double the number soon. north korea also believed to possess long-range missile technology. if another conflict breaks out between north korea and the u.s., he said, it will become ground zero. a 6 decade old war, considered history by much of the world, still a very ream part of life on the dmz. a painful reminder of the region's violent past. tense present. and uncertain future. still to come on "cnn newsroom," an offensive send militants running. we'll have the details in a live report. that's next.

fighter jets from the saudi

led coalition pounded yemen's main airport in sanaa monday. the air strike left this airplane burning. it came a day after coalition jets destroyed yemen's last remaining landing strip. the saudi led coalition has been trying to crush the houthis rebel group backed by iran and forced yemen's president into exile earlier this year. >> in nigeria hundred of women and girls held hostage by boko-haram are free after a military strike through the forest. these are pictures of a camp in the forest in flames after a raid there. now this area has become a stronghold for the terror group. but now the military is dismantling it. cnn correspondent diana magna joins me with more. for so long the nigerian

government seemed peraralyzed a unable to put up resistance to boko haram, now we see them fighting back and rescuing hundreds of hostages, talk to us why we are witnessing a change in approach to boko haram? >> that's right. really since president goodluck jonathan decided to postpone the election he seems to have put a renewed impa etus and seeing an empowered military and better weapons and the contribution of neighboring countries has meant that they're able to squeeze boko haram from all directions and the fact that they're raiding the forest this vast area which has become a centerpiece of, of boko haram's activities is testament to that. and also been for the last few months if not years, the place where boko haram's captives have

been kept in sometimes desperate conditions. >> reporter: scenes of mayhem, aerials from the nigerian military. motor bikes and trucks filled with men, apparently boko haram militants weaving through the trees as the air force bombs their camp. later groups on foot stream out of the village. the army says they're women and children held captive. moved to camps for the displaced. some 700 rescued so farther army says. in its ongoing assault on the zambisa forest. >> the boko haram fighters said we should stand in front of them as human shields. we refused. then we started hearing bullets. then they ran off and left us alone. >> amnesty estimates boko haram has taken 2,000 captives since last year. many taken to the massive forest. an area twice the size of belgium where according to the

superstition the dead go to live and where boko haram made a stronghold. we mothers were hungry. so we couldn't produce breast milk. it is okay now. i kept the secret radio in zambisa, i would hide in the corner of the forest at night and listen to the news. and we heard the soldiers were recapturing the towns. we were praying for day and night for them to save us. >> the truck loads keep coming. women and children confused by the change in their fortunes. some injured in fighting desperate for comfort. the fact that the army is taking on boko haram is a sign how far it has come from the demoralized badly equipped force a year ago was failing against the militants. aided by contributions of neighbors in sending in their armies to join the fight. >> being able to cross over to nigeria to fight boko haram.

it provided that flexibility and i think that contributed to this operation that we are seeing now. >> reporter: so far none of those rescued are believed off to be the, more than 200 school girls held by. but it is a vast forest. with them making head way there is reason to hope that these rescued women won't be the last. >> we are also hearing, rosemary from the girls that boko haram seems to be in some degree of disarray. they've been complaining to captives. lack of guns, weapons, ammunition, even gasoline to drive their trucks. they've ben complaining abut the leadership, which is a very good sign for the nigerian military as they continue this assault. >> rosemary? >> yes, it is. what about the 200 plus, school girls kidnapped last year from this school.

what its the latest on their fate? >> we don't know. but we, there is always been -- suggestion or people believe that they're some where in the zambisa forest, also. but we don't have the intelligence. fundamentally, the military, primary objective at the moment is to squash. if they've find the girls in the process so much the better for it. it is likely that boko haram realizes how high value they are, given the profile they received. because of the bring our girls back campaign. they have withdrawn further into the forest with the girls than they have with the hostages. at the moment. still their fate is unknown. rosemary. >> let's hope we are able to report some day on their release. we are seeing this momentum now as the military there in nigeria are raiding camps of boko haram. we will continue to follow this

story closely. diana magnay, thank you to you. >> next on "cnn newsroom," countdown to election day. we are live in london with the latest on the close race. do stay with us for more on that. and relieve your other allergy symptoms. so you can breathe easier all day. zyrtec®-d. find it at the pharmacy counter.

we are just two days away from the uk elections that at this moment is just too close to call. let's go back to london with our errol barnett who has the very latest. and errol, of course, when you have a tight race like this you get some party leaders getting pretty testy. >> oh, yes, rosemary. thursday's election one of the tightest campaigns britain has seen in a generation. as the the count yun down to po enters its final days.

>> david cameron set the tone of the campaign from day one. >> you face a stark choice. the next prime minister walking through that door will be me or ed milliband. >> reporter: a title the opposition labor leader embraced. >> if i'm prime minister. if i'm prime minister. >> reporter: you will be stabbed in the back that's what conservative implied, reminding voters of miliband's fight with his brother for the leadership in 2010. >> i think he demeaned himself. >> the past was ever present, leaders fought for credibility off the back of broken promises. i have not met the commitment i made. i fully accept that. we got it wrong. i famously couldn't put it in

process. >> the middle men, as polls pointed to a hung parliament. >> they will add a heart to a conservative government and brain to a labor one. >> reporter: not so funny some said to this comment. >> ed miliband's claim that labor has no plans for additional borrowing is a bit like an alcoholing who drinks a bottle of vodka every day claiming they have no plans for additional vodka. >> most of the attacks were corrected at his coalition partners. >> the peel in the nhs don't know you will find the money. >> reporter: it sounded like chaos was looming either way. >> a co-legislation of chaos. think of the chaos. >> reporter: the former labor prime minister rolled out two warn against the conservative and party plan to hold a referendum on britain's

membership in the union. >> it is unacceptable gamble with the nay's future. >> reporter: promming this response. >> tony blair can go to hell, all right. >> speaking of hell. >> a match made in hell for the economy. >> the prime minister issuing a dire warning it became apparent the leader of the scottish national party, was shaping up as ed miliband's king maker. >> we could walk david cameron out of downing street. >> fundamental disagraelts with you. not going to have a coalition. >> we have a chance to kick david cam ran. people will never forget you. >> the debates delivering some of the campaign's greatest and most controversial moments. >> you can come into britain from an where in the word and get diagnosed with hiv, get retro-viral drugs, 25,000 pound ape year per patient.

>> you ought to be ashamed for yourself. >> i'm sorry, ywe have got to pt our own people first. >> am i tough enough? hell yes i'm tough enough. >> amid the shoutdowns. >> balancing the books on the backs of the poor. >> no we, have done it in a balanced way. >> the books are balanced. [ indiscernible ] >> the slip-ups. and the sitdowns. the leaders have made their key points. abundantly clear. >> i want to get rid -- >> the last thing they need is a lurch to the right or the left. >> when working people kick seed. let's take control of our border. >> let us not go back to square one. max foster, cnn, london. >> cnn political contributor robin oakley joins me for one final point. robin, what will the vote come down to? >> frantic effort for 48 hours.

party leaders. conservatives will say only we can be trusted with the economy. labor will say only we can be trusted to look after the national health service. liberal democrats will present themselves, party in the middle available in the coalition, stop labor spending too much, top the cutting of welfare too much. ukip will say the only ones we can trust to get britain out of europe. frantic race to the line. two parties saying we can do it on our own. neither of them believe it in their hearts. and from, then on, the great pretense ends and we all start talking coalition politics after 48 hours. >> indeed. all we have to look forward to. rosemary, great to have robin's insight. he'll be with us all week. i have more questions for him. we'll jump on periscope, platform, to take viewers' questions if they have them. you are into social media, rosemary. and otherwise we will see you here tomorrow. >> everyone, get your questions

to both of them. that is going to be interesting to see the outcome of this election very tight as it is. many thanks to you. well, be sure to tune back here thursday for special election coverage beginning when the first votes are cast or right here on cnn. i'm rosemary church. stay with us, "early start" is next for viewers in the united states. for the rest of you another edition of "cnn newsroom" begins after this break.

terror connection. new information about the gunmen who tried to attack the contest to draw cartoonsi of the prophe muhammad. the man's connection to people in isis. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. christine romans is on assignment this morning. we have details on the attack on the contest in garland, texas. there is new information about the two men killed by police as they apparently tried to shoot their way into the even