one day after saying there's no military solution to the crisis in syria, president obama is expected to announce the deployment of 250 special operations forces there. >> ted cruz and john kasich reach a gentleman's agreement on the campaign trail in an effort to stop the surge of donald trump. plus -- >> boko haram do indeed appear to have been pushed back, but their presence lingers. everywhere you look, scenes of devastation. two years have passed since the capture of more than 200 nigerian schoolgirls by islamic

extremists, now cnn has first line access to the battle to bring them home. >> a very warm welcome to our viewers here in the united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. thanks for joining us. as we kick off your week, we're here for you for the next two hours on "cnn newsroom." >> now we begin this hour with the race for the white house and what really is an extraordinary move in the republican campaign. get this. ted cruz and john kasich say they are now working together against party front-runner donald trump. the candidates each released statements saying they'll divide their efforts in the upcoming contest. they hope to keep trump from getting the delegates he needs to win the republican nomination. >> cruz says he will focus on indiana while kasich devotes his efforts to oregon and new mexico. and cruz does not seem to think he has anything to lose by teaming up with his republican

rival. he told voters sunday there are only two candidates who have a chance of winning the nomination. >> the primary has done the job it's supposed to do. it has narrowed the field. as we stand here today, there are two people and only two people that have any plausible path whatsoever to winning the republican nomination. me and donald trump. as i said, plausible path. >> now, as you might imagine, donald trump quickly sent out some tweets reacting to this kasich and cruz joining forces essentially. take a look. wow, just announced that lyin' ted and kasich -- he's yet to give him a nickname -- are going to col ud in order to keep me from getting the republican nomination. desperation. later, the campaign released a statement saying in part, quote, they are mathematically dead, and this act only shows as puppets of donors and special

interests how truly weak they and their campaigns are. >> and it is that brash kind of language that democrat hillary clinton is going after in her latest campaign ad against trump. >> at the right time, i will be so presidential, you will be so bored. >> they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. i use the word anchor baby. this is a country where we speak english, not spanish. >> you're going to have a deportation force. >> i will get rid of gun-free zone on schools. my first day it gets signed. i want surveillance of certain mosques. >> a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> one of my personal heroines, maya an gel lieu, said when someone shows you who they are,

believe them. >> but the attacks don't stop there. clinton warned voters in connecticut that donald trump or any other republican will compromise the rights of americans. >> you know, every time donald trump says one of the things he says, a lot of people are surprised or shocked. but after a while, with so many of those comments, those insults, the kind of demagoguery that reawe are seeing from him,u have to ask yourself what really is at stake in this election? and one of the things that is at stake are our rights because the republicans want to undermine and set back our rights. >> and there's one other interesting development. one of the most powerful voices in conservative u.s. politics has made a surprising statement about u.s. democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton. >> billionaire donor charles

koch is usually a champion of republican candidates, but now he's voicing reluctant praise for clinton. cnn's fredricka whitfield has the details. >> this morning hillary clinton almost received an influential endorsement that she now is making clear she doesn't want. billionaire businessman charles koch, one of the two koch brothers, told abc news that clinton may be a better choice for president than any republican running. >> so is it possible another clinton could be better than another republican? >> it's possible. it's possible. >> you couldn't see yourself supporting hillary clinton, could you? >> well, her -- we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. let me put it that way. >> wow. then in response, clinton just tweeted this. quote, not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to

vote, end quote. and she included a link to koch's abc interview. >> well, meanwhile, clinton's rival, bernie sanders, is reiterating his central message and disputing claims that he's running a doomed campaign. he spoke to cnn's jake tapper. >> how often do we talk about, on television, that the 20 wealthiest people in this country now own more wealth than the bottom 150 million people? that in fact we are seeing public school systems, one end of this country in serious, serious trouble. we are seeing kids graduating college deeply in debt. all of the candidates need to focus on those issues, and vice presidential candidates need to do the same. that's what i'm trying to do in this campaign. that's why we have come from 3% in the polls to almost tying or in some cases being ahead of secretary clinton in national polls. >> barack obama 2008 campaign manager who is now supporting

hillary clinton, had some strong words for you. he said sanders has run a campaign by faesht supporters but raising money by saying you have path to nomination is fraud, unquote. what's your response? >> well, my response is that david plouffe is working for hillary clinton. the idea that we should not vigorously contest this election when the largest state in the united states of america, california, has not yet voted. nine other states will not have voted after tuesday. of course we're going to give every -- the people in every state in this country the right to determine who they want to see president of the united states. what kind of agenda they want. jake, you know, when we began this campaign, we were way, way behind. and i think it is fair to say that we have the momentum. we have the energy that we are bringing millions of people into the political process. what is good for america, what is good for the democratic party is to see a whole lot of people debating the real issues

impacting our country. that's how you have a large voter turnout. and when you have a large voter turnout, democrats and progressives win and republicans will lose. >> do you have a path to the nomination, though, sir and what states can you win so overwhelmingly that you can overtake her ultimately in the pledged delegate count? >> well, i'm not going to tell you that it's easy, but i think we do. what polls seem to be showing is that in many of the states yet to come, including california, our largest state, we have a real shot to win. and i think also there are a lot of delegates out there who are looking at the general matchup and what they're seeing in polls is that bernie sanders is running a lot stronger against donald trump than is hillary clinton because we can appeal to a lot of independents and people not just democrats. so i think we do have a path to victory. i think we have come a very, very long way in the last year, and we're going to fight for every last vote until the -- until california and the dc

primary. >> keep in mind sanders' comments come after an interview with nbc's "meet the press," where he said he was trailing clinton for the nomination because, quote, poor people don't vote. >> all right. we will of course continue to follow that story. another big story we're looking at, the u.s. beefing up the effort to reclaim isis-held territory in syria. >> in just a few hours, president barack obama is expected to announce plans to send 250 special operations forces to advise and assist local fighters. they'll join 50 other troops who have been doing the same thing for the past several months. >> now from germany with more details on this. let's talk about the significance of these 250 additional special ops forces heading to syria and what they will likely be doing once they get there. >> reporter: well, it is significant, and it really is to try and consolidate the gains made against isis, specifically

territory in syria, in northern iraq that has been regained recently. and as a result of that, it appears the president is inclined to bring in these extra special operations forces. now, 250 extra, that's great deal more than the 50 already there. the important part is they're there to advise and assist other troops there, to sort of keep the territory that's been gained back. and i think that's the crucial part there. these aren't troops that are going to be involved in combat operations, though they will be armed for their own defense. it really is in a sort of advisory role. so significant announcement that we are expecting today. hopefully we'll get more details in the president's speech later on. >> then of course president obama will be meeting with european leaders today. he's calling them good friends. what can we expect to come out of those discussions? >> reporter: very broad-ranging discussions so far with german chancellor angela merkel, everything from the crisis in syria to issues of the global

economy, the trade agreement they're trying to push through, and the refugee crisis that has engulfed europe. these are all likely topics, and it's interesting to note that in the original schedule actually, he wasn't speaking with other leaders. but now we have the heads of germany, france, britain, and italy all coming down to meet him here. so he's tacked on some extra time to meet with him. again, with these very broad-ranging issues. but clearly syria will be one of the top on the agenda. and of course the syria crisis, because it has fueled so many refugees coming to europe, it's natural that of course they'll be talking about the refugee crisis and how to deal with the numbers coming in. >> a lot to be discussed there. we will talk again next hour. thanks so much. to some other stories we're tracking. australia and new zealand are celebrating anzac day. they are commemorating the

anniversary of the ga liply landings. >> soldiers laid wreaths to remember the lives lost. the ceremony was adorned just like the landings. thousands of australians and new zealanders died there in a major military campaign that stretched on for months. leaders around the world are condemning north korea's submarine missile launch today. barack obama called the test another provocation from pyongyang. >> the u.s. president added that he's keeping close tabs on their progress and that their military gains knowledge with every test whether it fails or succeeds. >> and that statement follows some strong words from the french foreign ministry. they're calling on the eu to start their own sanctions against north korea. our paula hancocks is tracking all of this for us and joins us now live from seoul. paula, whether this sub launch was a success or not, the view seems to be that the north still learned something valuable from it. but what could the consequences

be? >> reporter: well, that's right, errol. i mean every time they test something, whether it's a missile, whether it's nuclear, it doesn't matter what the outcome is. they will have learned something from the process which the u.s. president acknowledged. but obviously the thoughts from those in the region now is how can they prevent north korea from continuing to ignore international sanctions and ignore international condemnation. the condemnation has accentuated itself since that missile launch. we know that the u.n. security council has condemned it, has reminded north korea that they're in violation of a number of resolutions. and yet it still doesn't seem to be having an impact. we know that the south korean military is on high alert since that missile took place. and certainly we know that washington is a bit more worried than they were before. one u.s. official telling us that the capability that north korea has with this submarine launch used to be a joke. now it is serious.

so really it does appear as though the concern has increased significantly that north korea may have been able to hone their skills when it comes to this capability. errol. >> and as you say, paula, pyongyang just doesn't appear deterred at all by deepening sanctions earlier this year in response to other missile tests. so what can we expect from south korean officials today when some are expected to address the public? >> reporter: well, we have had some press conferences throughout the day, and it's really been reiterating what we've heard over the weekend. the fact that they were strongly condemning it. the south koreans had said on sunday that in the past, they have told north korea if they continue with these so-called provocations, they would go back to the united nations and ask for these sanctions to be strengthened. but what we are also hearing from officials here and in japan and in the united states, there was a tri-lateral meeting just last week, was that they wanted to give these sanctions a chance

to work. it's only been a month, a month and a half since they passed, and they accept that it will be at least six months before they can tell if they are really starting to pinch the north korean regime, which they are intended to. and of course specifying how important it was that china implements them fully considering china is north korea's main trading ally. so i think there's an acceptance among the international community that it's too soon for these sanctions to be convincing pyongyang to change their mind. >> we could see more behavior like this in the future. paula hancocks live for us in seoul, a quarter past 3:00 in the afternoon. thanks. >> we'll take a quick break. still ahead, new details have emerged in the grisly murders of eight u.s. family members. we will tell you what authorities found at the victims' homes. >> and nigerian forces are fighting to take back territory

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a quick reminder now of our top story. u.s. republican presidential rivals ted cruz and john kasich have struck a deal on the states they plan to target all in an effort to stop donald trump from securing their party's nomination. >> yeah, and for more let's go to scott lucas. he is a professor of international politics at the university of birmingham, and he joins us now via skype. thank you so much, sir, for talking with us. now, this cruz/kasich deal seems to be playing right into the trump narrative that the gop establishment is colluding against him, not playing fair. what impact will this likely have on the outcome and certainly on the convention in july? >> well, that remains to be seen. but first i think despite your very good point that it may play into trump's hands, this is really the only alternative for cruz and kasich because they

were dividing the vote amongst themselves, which almost gave trump an open path through very key primaries, say california on june the 7th, and before that, in indiana. so the way to stop him and take it to a brokered convention really has to be that you have one candidate such as ted cruz prevailing in indiana and then an agreement on who should really challenge him in california. now, what will happen, i think that really depends on voters in the middle. those people who really like trump, they're going to vote for him. those who don't like him, they'll vote for cruz or for kasich. but what about those who aren't that happy with trump, but they don't want a brokered convention? they think that the deal is stacked. will enough of them move into trump's category because they take his argument about the process and buy it that it gets him over the majority needed where you won't have a convention fight? >> now, of course we know ted cruz himself has said there's only two possible winners here,

donald trump or ted cruz. so what's in it for kasich getting involved in a deal like this? surely the mud will stick with him. >> well, ted cruz would say that there's only two choices. the problem for cruz is that a lot of republican establishment don't like him either. they think his base is too narrow, that he can't win in an election in november. so kasich's idea is, well, look, i'll play for the brokered convention. then when the convention says neither trump nor cruz, i'll come through the middle and become the compromise candidate. i don't think there's much chance of that working. i think if you do have a compromise candidate, it will be someone we're not discussing at this point. but that's the only hope kasich has right now. >> and ted cruz seems to have the delegates stitched up for a second ballot, doesn't he? >> oh, he has the delegates that might take it to a second ballot. but keep your eyes on the following primaries. watch pennsylvania next tuesday. if trump gets a big victory,

although most of pennsylvania's delegates are uncommitted, they aren't tied to a candidate, it gives him momentum. if he wins in maryland next week and he then winds s in indiana week after, it's possible with a big win in california, he passes the 1,237 mark and we don't have to take it to a convention fight. >> it doesn't look like the math is behind him. it was already going to be difficult, what, more than 58% or so to get the 1,237? and now with this sort of deal between ted cruz and john kasich, that's going to be really quite a challenge. >> rosemary, you know, we've said so many times this will happen, this won't happen in the republican race, and we've all been surprised. i think i go back to your opening comment. if enough voters don't like the cruz/kasich deal and they swing behind trump and he wins 50, 60, 65% of the vote in these forthcoming states, he still could -- i don't think it's -- i

think it's a minority chance, but he still could possibly upset us all and clinch the nomination. >> just very quickly, should donald trump have seen this coming? >> oh, donald trump did see this coming. that's why over the past week, you've had the trump camp put out two messages. the softer message is, look, the person with the most votes, the most delegates, he should be the nominee. the harder message is the process is rigged. it's unfair. it's stacked against us. i don't completely buy that argument. but you know what? it might just have enough pull that he actually benefits from this cruz/kasich stitchup even though i think it was the necessary move. >> scott lucas, thanks so much for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. new details have emerged in the murders of eight u.s. family members. an ohio official says three marijuana grow operations were found across four homes where the relatives were found shot. the victims were discovered friday and ranged in age from 16

to 44. one of them was a mother sleeping next to her days-old baby. cnn's nick valencia has more on the killings, which one official called a pre-planned execution. >> yes, i need help. >> reporter: it is difficult to hear. >> i think my brother-in-law is dead. >> reporter: the sound of agony as a relative discovers members of her family have been murdered in cold blood. >> tell me what's going on. >> there's blood all over the house. >> okay. >> my brother-in-law is in the bedroom, and it looks like they beat the hell out of him. >> reporter: the ruthless killings apparently calculated attacks in four separate homes. police tell cnn they believe the suspect or suspects were familiar with the victims. the seven adults and one 16-year-old, apparent targets. but why? police have not released a motive or named a suspect. for this tiny town of about

2,000 people in southern ohio, the senseless nature of the slayings is simply too much to understand. >> it's just unbelievable reallreally this has taken place. >> phil fulton was pastor to some of the victims. >> i think one of the most disturbing details is one of the victims was killed next to her 4-day-old baby. >> i cannot believe how anyone could kill a mother with her 4-day-old baby in her arms. it's -- it's out of my realm of thinking that anyone could do that. how heartless. >> reporter: with no official leads, late saturday an ohio businessman offered $25,000 of his own money to help catch the killer or killers. jeff ruby has no connection to the family but says that he wanted to get the word out to find the person or people responsible for this.

>> okay. just stay out of the house. don't let anybody go in there, okay? >> yeah. >> all right. we've got deputies on the way, okay? >> thank you. >> you're welcome. [ sobbing ] >> horrible. nick valencia reporting there. there are rumors surrounding this story, but authorities wouldn't say publicly whether they thought these killings were drug-related. let's take a quick break here. still to come this hour, cnn's reporter joins the nigerian military on patrol as they try to infiltrate boko haram while searching for the kidnapped chibok schoolgirls. her exclusive report just ahead. with tums chewy delights. the mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. tum tum tum tum. chewy delights. only from tums.

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together, we're building a better california. all right. we're half an hour in. a big welcome back to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching all around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> i'm rosemary church.

i want to update you on the stories we've been following this hour. republicans ted cruz and john kasich are working together to try to keep donald trump from getting their party's presidential nomination. the candidates say they'll divide their efforts in upcoming states to try to block trump from getting a majority of delegates. trump calls the move collusion and desperation. >> we have some live pictures here for you as brussels reopens the maelbeek metro station where 20 people were killed in last month's terror attacks. isis claimed responsibility for those attacks which targeted the metro and brussels airport, you'll remember. in all, 32 people were killed and more than 300 injured. >> u.s. president barack obama is expected to announce plans to send 250 more special operations forces to northern syria in the battle against isis. officials say the troops will join 50 others in an advise and assist role. they are not expected to engage in combat but will be armed for

self-defense. with bombs once again falling on syria's largest city, aleppo, there is growing concern about the people still trapped there. >> thousands of syrians have fled their homes in aleppo, looking for safety in a town just across the border in turkey. our nick paton walsh reports the violence is following them. >> reporter: this was day 55 of syria's cessation of hostilities. for those who live in aleppo. no military target here, activists said. an inferno. many burned alive. zahair is dead, he says. it was much the same on day 56. another building in aleppo hit. u.s. officials troubled. the russian heavy weapons are amassing near the city, and whatever the cease-fire was is crumbling. >> i am deeply concerned about

the cessation of hostilities and whether it's sustainable. >> reporter: but syria's world is slowly crossing the border to one town in southern tur kiskey. kilis hit by rockets almost daily in the past weeks. probably by isis, who are never part of the ceasefire. this woman sat here when the rockets tore through her roof. a syrian family scrabbling out a life on the floor below. this used to be their shelter, their respite. >> translator: the syrians fled. they took refuge here, but bombs are also raining on their heads. the government keeps say shelter in your house. didn't it fall on our house? on our roof now? where are we supposed to go? >> reporter: it is staggering that during the supposed cessation of hostilities across the border there in syria that

the war is spreading. even to a peaceful turkish town like this, a haven for refugees that now finds itself pretty much every other day hit by rocket fire. fresh rockets have just whizzed over this, the funeral of local plumber abdullah, killed friday also by a rocket. rage is against the government. where are they? >> translator: bombs are falling on everyone's home, where are you, president? where are you? a bomb fell on our house. is this what you promised? >> reporter: another rocket strike here. five syrian children injured. the shattered places where they once slept. the dust, the rubble are what

they fled. nick paton walsh, cnn, kilis. we want to get you the latest news on the ongoing efforts to bring back nigeria's missing schoolgirls. it's been two years since they were abducted from their school by boko haram. >> our senior correspondent went on patrol with nigerian forces in nearby maidaguri, following them deep into a forest the terror group calls home. here is her exclusive report. >> reporter: monday market in maidaguri. two men sowing panic. normality returned but it gives you a sense of the tension here as boko haram have lost their

territorial footprint or much of it, they're growing increasingly reliant on releasing waves of suicide bombers into the heart of the city and beyond. in a city on edge, no one is above suspicion. maiduguri is at the heart to retake boko haram territory. their operation, peace by any means. spread out across the country's vast northeast. the road to the forest or what's been cleared so far, relentless heat bears down on our heavily armored convoy. soft sand, ideal hiding holes for ids. the scout in the lead directing our convoy on and off the track. two years ago, when we visited

chibok after the mass abduction of the schoolgirls, parents described to us how they followed the trail of their daughters to the front gates, to the entry point of the forest and were unable to move any further. this is the sambisa. the nigerian has been able to start clawing back territory here from boko haram, but the sambisa fortress, the territory right in the center, that is still where they're moving towards. and this is where some of the chibok girls are believed to still be held. let's say you're out on a patrol like this. what are your scouting looking for? are they looking for tracks? are they looking for -- do they specifically know that this area will have had heat signals or using thermal imaging? what techniques are you using to get you closer? >> we rely a lot on the

americans that have provided the planes and give some information as to cluster of groups of persons. we try to search out for footprints, and sometimes we see children, their footprints on the ground. >> reporter: as if on cue, a surveillance plane flies overhead. one of the eyes in the sky. >> here, here. >> reporter: major general leo tells us he's proud of his men, but they are in need of more international support. why do you think it's taking so long to find the girls? >> well, the question of chibok girls remains a sore point in our history. we think that from the intelligence that the remaining ar areas that we're walking to, moving to, we want to see if

we're able to rescue the chibok girls. >> reporter: he is tasked with following the girls' two-year-old trail and waging war against boko haram's brutal insurgency in the face of heightening frustration. >> it's a huge challenge, and the mandate is enormous. currently, we feel very far in achieving the mandates. >> but the threat remains? >> the threat remains of course just like in other areas. >> reporter: the commander allowed us to join his men moving east towards the front lines to see for ourselves. boko haram do indeed appear to have been pushed back but their presence lingers. everywhere you look, scenes of devastation. all the way through our journey, we've seen village after abandoned village. devastated, destroyed. what boko haram couldn't loot, they attempted to burn to the ground. and people are still too afraid to come back to their homes.

but the hope is that the longer the nigerian military maintain their hold on the territory up here, the more people's confidence will grow. the more willing they'll be to return and reclaim their lives and their homes. nima, elbagir, cnn. ...a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit. which provided for their every financial need.

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a bizarre and deadly storm in myanmar. according to the country's state-run newspaper, this storm battered parts of the country with hail, killing six people on friday. some witnesses reported

hailstones the size of coconuts. hundreds of homes were destroyed, and it's not over yet. thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected over the coming hours. and it's worth pointing out that hail is just one example of the extreme weather being seen in that region. our pedram javaheri is with us now to explain what is going on. >> in this region of the world, i often talk about little known fact that one of the deadliest single storms ever was cyclone nargas in 2008 and took 140,000 lives. so it kind of speaks to the unprepared nature of this region, of course, but very little as far as weather communication in done in these regions of the world. so you have these storms come through with very little people knowing that they are going to happen. it leads to mass fatalities and injuries. and that's precisely what happened here. upwards of 300 domesticated animals lost their lives from this hail. in united states they talk about

baseball size. here it's coconut size. but again it really tells you the severity of these storms. we'll show you how this is all broken gown. rosemary was touching on the variety of weather that happens across this region. we had massive, massive thunderstorms take place. at any given moment on our planet, there are some 2,000 thunderstorms taking place that are producing 100 lightning strikes every single second on our flight attendant. here's the global distribution of lightning strikes. the u.s. hot spot, state of florida, had the highest dennis of lightning strikes, about 50 or so strikes per square kilometer. you broaden out the perspective and something stands out here. about 70% of all lightning strikes happen across the tropics of our planet. in fact the democratic republic of the congo, they get upwards of 2 million strikes every year. as you work your way closer to india, southeast asia, you get the high density against, pick up there for lightning strikes. also we had these large hailstones that took with them at least six lives across this

region. we know 450 buildings had their roofs punctured from these storms on saturday into sunday. of course some of the religious places here and structures also damaged as trees came down from these massive storms. so certainly something we're watching carefully as storms continue to really blossom across the mandalay region of myanmar. but not too far away, we have parts of nine states that are dealing with severe heat warnings. we touched on this last week. we know fatalities, upwards of 90 fatalities associated with heat across the indian sub continent. look at these observations. 49 degrees celsius. that's 120 fahrenheit. hottest temperature on our planet. that occurred across indian this past sunday. you look at the observation. normally they should be closer to 100 fahrenheit. coming in at 120. in fact, if you're watching this in california, staying up late with us, we appreciate you doing so. wanted to give you a little comparison. there's the 120 fahrenheit that occurred. global hot spot in sunday on india. 49 celsius is what death valley

would see on its hottest days on average, that would be in july. shows you the severity. of course in india there's extreme humidity involved as well. you factor in the humidity, the heat indices push up. so certainly something worth noting with these storms across that area in recent days. but also some storms across the midwestern u.s., and the storm prediction center in the last few minutes has increased the risk of severe weather for tuesday. could potentially be one of the largest severe weather outbreaks of 2016. about 20 million people are going to be dealing with this. on a scale of one to five, it is a four for the intensity, the severity of these storms across places like kansas city, wichita, and oklahoma city and moving into this week. and the tornado threat so far, we've actually been in a tornado drought in the united states. the month of april, we see about 150 tornadoes. we have about 30 or so so far this april. so the concern is as we go towards the next couple of days, is this number going to be caught up quickly?

there's a lot of people coming at risk. >> could those storms be more powerful is always the concern too? >> every single year they seem to be, and the heat energy is how these storms thrive. now i don't want to report this story, but like so many other things i say, we have to. disaster may have struck the reigning nba champs. golden state warriors star steph curry returned from an ankle injury sunday to play in game four against the houston rockets, and, ouch! he strained his knee in the first half. the mvp did not return to the game. he is scheduled for an mri on monday. >> and even without him, the warriors won handily and lead the series 3-1. but this could be trouble in an otherwise magical season for curry. the star was plagued by injuries in his first few years in the league. >> hope he jets back into tip-top shape. musicians have been remembering prince the best way they know how, by playing his

music. >> and we will show you one icon paying tribute to another. ♪ purple rain, purple rain this is your first time missing a payment. and you've got the discover it card, so we won't hike up your apr for paying late. that's great! it is great! (both simultaneously) thank you. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card with late payment forgiveness. ♪ [engine revs] ♪ ♪

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africa music star papa wemba has died. the 66-year-old singer collapsed on stage during a musical festival in ivory coast, saturday. the congolese icon was known for merging his heritage with western pop. his style earned him the nickname king rhumba of rock. this is a shock to many on the continent. i was lucky enough to interview papa wemba back in 2012 when we discussed his four decades plus as an artist and the status of music in the congo. he said artistic expression was alive and well in his homeland despite having such limited means. take a look. >> we do things mostly with the heard because we tell ourselves that we love it, even if there's no one that comes to buy it. we don't tell ourselves that we must become millionaires out of it, but we love it. me, it's now 42 years that i've

been singing because i love it. >> reporter: papa wemba's cultural influence also extends to stylish clothes. he popularized a high fashion movement here back in the 1970s as a form of protest. at the time, the government implemented strict dress codes which prohibited western suits. but papa wemba preferred more freedom of expression. even today, these so-called sa purees or well dressed men parade around the city showing off threads. >> you are still contributing to the cultural fiber here. tell me about the group known as la sapeur and what that means to you. >> translator: les sapeur is a free movement that is not linked to a well defined function. you must see how people dress up on sunday when they go to church. it's not only le serks sapeur.

you must see how our parents used to dress when they used to go glorify the lord. >> what's your connection with it? >> reporter: >> translator: i like it because i'm the one who broke it in. i love dressing up. yesterday i spent a lot of money to dress up. there are clothes i buy at prices that i can't even tell you about on camera. >> he will live on through his music. he lives on through style and fashion, and he was so warm and welcoming to us, rosemary, that it is a massive loss for the continent. but he does continue to exist in many ways. >> great you had a chance to talk to him. well, musicians have made no secret of their respect for prince since his death on thursday. many have been paying tribute to him by lending their voices to some of his classic songs. >> bruce stringstein, for example, opened his show in brooklyn sunday with a cover of his own. take a listen. ♪ i only want to see you, only

want to see you laughing in the purple rain ♪ ♪ purple rain, purple rain >> very powerful song. >> amazing when you hear another artist play. >> what's interesting is prince wrote that song after watching other artists perform these big concert ballads, and he wanted his own. he wrote "purple rain." >> and there it is. >> awesome stuff. >> thank you so much for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. remember you can always follow us on social media at any time. >> i'm errol barnett. we will have more "cnn newsroom" after a quick break. please do stay with us. ♪ st, you say? we can't contain it any long... oh! you know, that reminds me of how geico's been the fastest-growing auto insurer

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shoshow me more like this.e. show me "previously watched." what's recommended for me. x1 makes it easy to find what you love. call or go online and switch to x1. only with xfinity. ted cruz and john kasich strike a deal to stop republican front-runner donald trump from clinching the party's nomination. while trump says the system is rigged. more u.s. special operations forces are on their way to syria to help battle isis. an announcement from president barack obama is expected shortly. and a ray of hope in nepal amid a very grim reality. one year after the devastating earthquake that killed

thousands. hello and welcome to our viewers here inthe united states and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. thanks for joining our second hour of "cnn newsroom." an extraordinary move could shake up the republican race for the white house. donald trump's rivals ted cruz and john kasich are planning to work together against the party front-runner. they each released statements just a few hours ago saying they'll divide their efforts in upcoming states to keep trump from getting the delegates he needs to win the nomination. >> cruz says he will focus on indiana while kasich goes out to oregon and new mexico. and cruz doesn't seem to think he has anything to lose by teaming up with his republican rival. he told voters sunday there are only two candidates who have a chance of winning the

nomination. >> the primary has done the job it's supposed to do. it has narrowed the field. as we stand here today, there are two people and only two people who have any plausible path whatever so winning the republican nomination. me and donald trump. as i said, plausible path. >> and you know donald trump had a tweet to respond to all of this. quote, wow, just announced that lyin' ted and kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the republican nomination. desperation. later trump's campaign released this statement, reading in part, quote, they are mathematically dead, and this act only shows as puppets of donors and special interests how truly weak they and their campaigns are. now, just last hour, we spoke to professor of international politics scott lucas about this turn of events. >> this is really the only alternative for cruz and kasich because they were dividing the vote amongst themselves, which

almost gave trump an open path through very key primaries, say california on june the 7th, and before that in indiana. so the way to stop him and take it to a brokered convention really has to be that you have one candidate such as ted cruz prevailing in indiana and then an agreement on who should really challenge him in california. now, what will happen? i think that really depends on voters in the middle. those people who really like trump, they're going to vote for him. those who don't like him, they'll vote for cruz or for kasich. but what about those who aren't that happy with trump but they don't want a brokered convention? they think that the deal is stacked. will enough of them move into trump's category because they take his argument about the process and buy it that it gets him over the majority needed where you won't have a convention fight? >> as for the democrats, hillary clinton is going after donald trump as well, attacking his brash language in a new campaign

ad. >> at the right time, i will be so presidential, you will be so bored. >> they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. >> i use the word anchor baby. >> this is a country where we speak english, not spanish. >> you're going to have a deportation force. >> i will get rid of gun-free zones on schools. my first day it gets signed. >> i want surveillance of certain mosques, okay? >> a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> one of my personal heroines, ma maya an gel lou said, when someone shows you who they are, believe them. >> the attacks don't stop there. clinton warned voters in connecticut that donald trump or any other republican will compromise the rights of americans. take a listen. >> you know, every time donald

trump says one of the things he says, a lot of people are surprised or shocked. but after a while, with so many of those comments, those insults, the kind of demagoguery that we are seeing from him, you have to ask yourself what really is at stake in this election? and one of the things that is at stake are our rights because the republicans want to undermine and set back our rights. >> meanwhile hillary clinton is getting a reluctant endorsement of sorts from billionaire political donor charles koch. but she doesn't appear to want it. >> yeah. along with his brother david, he has donated millions of dollars to conservative groups and republican candidates, and here's what charles koch said about clinton in an interview with abc. >> so is it possible another clinton could be better than another republican? >> it's possible.

it's possible. >> you couldn't see yourself supporting hillary clinton, could you? >> well, her -- we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. let me put it that way. >> hillary clinton responded with this tweet. you see it there. quote, not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote. now, a u.s. actress and supporter of democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders has sparked controversy by bringing up monica lewinsky. >> rosario dawson referenced lewinsky as she accused clinton's campaign of bullying sanders. but in 1998, hillary clinton's bill clinton, admitted he had an inappropriate relationship with lewinsky when she was a white house intern and he was president. here's what dawson said on saturday. >> we are literally under attack for not just supporting the

other candidate. now, i'm with monica lewinsky with this. bullying is bad. she's actually dedicated her life now to talking about that. and now as a campaign strategy, we are being bullied. >> in an interview with cnn's jake tapper, sanders defended dawson's overall speech, but he did not comment specifically on her reference to lewinsky. >> rosario is a great actress and she's done a great job for us. she's been a passionate fighter to see that we increase the voter turnout, that we fight for racial, economic, environmental justice. what our job right now is to contrast our views compared to secretary clinton. that's what a campaign is about. what i will be doing in this campaign is an issue-oriented way, not by personal attacks but by contrasting our view to secretary clinton. >> sanders also told cnn that

he's surprise at how well he's done so far in his presidential campaign. we turn now to another big story we have been following. the u.s. is looking to build on the momentum against isis in syria by sending in more troops to advise local fighters. in the coming hours, president barack obama is expected to announce plans to send 250 special operations forces to northern syria, and they will join 50 other troops already there. >> now, this comes as syrian government forces stepped up bombing attacks on rebel-held areas of aleppo. the u.s.-brokered truce reached in february began to fall apart this month. >> and mr. obama will make that announcement as he continues his visit to germany. ateekah shuber joins us now in germany, and she has the details. atika, i want to start with just how significant it is, this apparent or this expectation, this announcement of 250

additional special ops forces heading to syria, and what they will likely do once they get there. >> reporter: well, it is significant, especially when you consider there are at the moment about 50 special operations forces inside. so now adding another 250 to that is a big increase. now, what we understand is from officials is that these are troops that will be advising and assisting syrian forces, those forces in syria that are in the fight there. there are of course a number of actors on the ground, and the move towards raqqah and mosul, the isis headquarters, has been slow-going. but in one sense, it has also been successful. we've seen a defense analysis review saying that isis has lost some 20% of its territory in the last year. so it could be that bringing in these special operations forces is really an attempt to sort of

bolster and consolidate those gains to try and hold the territory that has been gained so far. but who exactly they will be assisting, how they will be helping, those are details we are hoping to get from the president's remarks later on today. >> and, atika, president obama is meeting with european leaders today. he's calling them friends. what can we expect to come out of those discussions, and what topics will be covered? >> reporter: yeah, well, it's interesting because in the original schedule, he didn't have these extended meetings with european leaders. but he's actually taken some extra time now, calling on the leaders of not only germany, of course, german chancellor angela merkel here, but also france, italy, and the u.k. will be joining him here for other meetings. and it will be a very broad-ranging set of discussions, including the crisis in syria, but also the effect of that, the refugee crisis here in europe where we

saw so many thousands trying to get into europe. europe has really struggled with the influx. it's likely this will be part of the discussion as well as the economy, the trade agreement. it's really an opportunity to discuss all this in depth with european leaders. so hopefully we'll get some idea of what exactly will come out of those discussions later on, rosemary. >> all right. live from germany. we will bring you all the live pictures as they're coming to us of this visit by president obama in germany. many thanks, atika. a turkish border town is coming under rocket fire with deadly results. >> turkey's froimt says incoming fire killed one person and injured at least 26 in kilis on sunday. many syrians fled to the town to escape the fighting at home, only to see the violence spread across the border. >> nick paton walsh joins us now live. nick, there is deep concern the

ceasefire isn't holding. in fact, you've seen evidence of that and the violence is spilling over once again into turkey. >> reporter: the problem with the cease fire has been the number of groups excluded from it. giving the impression that, in account fa, their adhering to the cease fire yet still triekitrie striking areas that consider themselves to be off limits. the raids have continued over the weekend, particular lid on the city of aleppo. and we have in the past weeks seen the violence through rocket attacks fired from syria into turkey, spread to otherwise peaceful turkish towns. this was day 55 of syria's cessation of hostilities. for those who live in aleppo. no military target here, activists said.

an inferno. over 12 dead, burned alive. zahair is dead, he says. it was much the same on day 56. another building in aleppo hit. u.s. officials troubled. the russian heavy weapons are amassing near the city, and that whatever the cease fire was is crumbling. >> i am deeply concerned about the cessation of hostilities fraying and whether it's sustainable. >> reporter: but syria's world is slowly crossing the border to one town in southern turkey, kilis. hit by rockets almost daily in the past weeks. five fr fired from syria, probably by isis who were never part of the cease-fire. this woman sat here when the rockets tore through her roof. a syrian family scrabbling out a life on the floor below.

this used to be their shelter, their respite. >> translator: the syrians fled. they took refuge here, but bombs are also raining on their heads. the government keeps saying shelter in your house. but didn't it fall on our house, on our roof now? so where are we supposed to go? >> reporter: it is staggering during this supposed cessation of hostilities across the border there in syria that the war is spreading even to a peaceful turkish town like this, a haven for refugees that now finds itself pretty much every other day hit by rocket fire. fresh rockets have just whizzed over this, the funeral of a local plumber, killed friday also by a rocket. rage is against the government. where are they? >> translator: bombs are falling on everyone's homes. where are you, president?

where are you? a bomb fell on our house. is this what you promised? >> reporter: another rocket strike here. five syrian children injured. the shattered places where they once slept, the dust, the rubble, what they fled. but now it has followed them here. >> nick, the anger of the people you spoke with obviously visceral there. what is the turkish government saying about these rocket attacks? >> reporter: well, the deputy prime minister went down yesterday to deliver messages that they would obliterate the source of these attacks. they had 45 rockets fired at that town since january, killing a total of 16 people, and the intensity of those attacks have increased in the past weeks. three or four alone just yesterday, killing one person there. this is a town that was frankly

last year completely peaceful, just full of syrian refugees, distant from the war despite being mar being merely kilometer as way from syria. the government has a lot of anger projected towards it. i have to say it was startling to go to two sites of these blasts and find no policeman in sight at all. not a real sense of lockdown certainly in that town at all although later in the day when another round landed, there were a lot of police out there, seemingly actually according to %-pf government involvement. a startling way to choose to intervene in a city that has been as heavily exposed as that in southern turkey and a lot of anger being projected. the government saying we're going to have an emergency cabinet meeting on monday. it's amazing they haven't been able to pinpoint and take out the source of these so far

indiscriminate but relatively accurate -- and they are hitting the city itself -- rocket attacks on kilis. >> their anger certainly understandable. nick paton walsh live for us in turkey. a quarter past 10:00 in the morning. nick, thanks. a year later, nepal is still recovering from a devastating earthquake. how the nation is parking the anniversary next. plus within the last hour, brussels reopened a metro station bombed in last month's terror attacks. we will take you live to the belgian capital. and nigerian forces are targeting boko haram while searching for hundreds of kidnapped schoolgirls. we'll bring you an exclusive report from the front line after this.

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on the test while traveling in germany. >> what is clear is that north korea continues to engage in continuous provocative behavior, that they have been actively pursuing a nuclear program, an ability to launch nuclear weapons, and although more often than not they fail in many of these tests, they gain knowledge each time they engage this these tests. >> the u.n. security council condemned north korea's latest launch as well. it called the test yet another serious violation by the dprk of united nations security council resolutions. >> the statement added that, quote, such ballistic missile activities contribute to the dprk's development of nuclear weapons delivery systems and increased tension in the region

and beyond. now to another story we're following. it's been one year since a devastating earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people in nepal. large crowds held a vigil sunday in kathmandu marking a somber anniversary. more than 1 million homes were destroyed or damaged in the 7.8 magnitude quake and its aftershocks. >> but one year on, nepal is still struggling to recover and rebuild. around 100 protesters clashed with police in the nation's capital, demanding faster reconstruction efforts. rubble remains in many areas, and thousands still live in makeshift shelters. a 10-year-old girl lost her leg in last year's earthquake, changing her life forever. but luckily, she got a second chance. >> our reporter traveled to nepal and saw firsthand maya's journey to recovery.

>> reporter: maya survived the 2015 earthquake in nepal, but her left leg was crushed. doctors had to amputate and her future in a remote mountainous village seemed bleak. but days later, a second quake gave maya a second chance at life. >> immediately after the first earthquake, my friends and i started collecting supplies and taking them to the villages. and on the way back, then the second earthquake and we were literally running for our lives. i was ahead, and i saw a family walking up, and this girl with a, you know, amputated leg. and she was being carried by her brother. >> meeting him was a moment that would change the course of maya's life. >> the first thing that came into my head was, what would she do with an amputated leg in the

village. the hills and mountains, nothing is level, and even the house chores you cannot do. >> reporter: he convince the maya's father to let her live with him in kathmandu. >> in the villages, they have one teacher for, you know, maybe 50 students or whatever. in her situation, she doesn't even know the basic alphabets. >> reporter: at a private school in kathmandu, maya now studies with children half her age. >> we brought her to the school and had her evaluated, and the teacher suggested that she would put her in nursery. so she just completed her the lower kindergarten. this is her report card.

>> reporter: with regular access to her doctor, maya has had no complications with her leg. >> she is definitely not the same village girl that she was before. she's not as shy. she's still shy, but she's not as shy. i think she's a very positive-minded girl, a child that age to have lost a leg like that and to have gone through all that trauma, she is definitely a winner in that regard. >> now from delhi, maya's story just makes us smile. overall, how is the recovery effort going there in nepal? >> reporter: well, errol, maya's story was definitely a ray of hope amid a very grim situation. i walked the streets of kathmandu and in towns and villages around the capital. and at most, everyone i spoke

with expressed a great deal of frustration. frustration that one year after the earthquake, thousands of people are still living in temporary and unsafe homes, and thousands more are actually living still in makeshift tents. some of the tent cities that i saw actually reminded me of the aftermath of the haiti earthquake in 2010, when thousands and thousands of haitians were living in vast tent cities for many, many months after the earthquake. and i spoke with nepalese who feared that they have no place to go, others that they have no money to rebuild their homes. >> it's important we all remember that nepal still needs the world's help. there's much more to be rebuilt. moni, thank you. approaching 1:00 p.m. there. thanks very much. brussels has reopened the maelbeek metro station where 20

people were killed in last month's terror attacks. you will hear from belgians about the significance of this reopening. plus cnn's nima elbagir joins the nigerian military on patrol as they fight to find the missing chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by boko haram. her exclusive report next. samby sa

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a warm welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and people tuned in from around the globe. it's your last half hour of "cnn newsroom" with us. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. let's check the headlines. >> u.s. president barack obama

is expected to announce plans to send 250 additional troops to syria to help battle isis militants. officials say the troops will join 50 others in an vaesz and assist role. they will be armed for self-defense. >> the move comes as fighting in the strategic city in aleppo is intensifying. the syrian government says there will be a new attack to try to take areas of the city currently under rebel control. a u.n.-brokered truce reached in february began to fall apart in aleppo this month. brussels has reopened the maelbeek metro station where 20 people were killed in last month's terror attacks. it is the first time since the attacks that all brussels metro stations will be open. >> there's also a condolence wall there at the station for people to write tributes. isis claimed respond for the attacks, which targeted the metro and brussels airport. in all, 32 people were killed and more than 300 injured.

>> and cnn's erin mclaughlin is in brussels. she joins us now for more on the reopening. erin, talk to us about the opening of this station and what it means to belgians just weeks, in fact, after the deadly attacks. >> reporter: rosemary, the trains may be running normally here at the maelbeek metro station, but the thoughts, the feelings, the emotions are anything but normal. after all, it was around this time that that suicide bomber blew himself up on board a train at the station just as the train was leaving, killing some 20 people. cnn spoke to a survivor from that day, and he says he can still remember in vivid detail the shocking calm of survivors as they made their way through the darkness of the metro tunnels to safety. it's a memory that many people here in this country will never

forget. and for many commuters, it was certainly an emotional moment. take a listen. >> life goes on. you have to take the normal life. we have to be positive to the future too, and we hope that it will never come again. those terrible things. >> reporter: now, inside the metro station, they have a white board there for people to leave their messages of solidarity as well as their condolences. on saturday, there was a private visit from victims' family members as well as survivors. it's been described as really an emotional visit, a moment, an opportunity for them to take part in what is a part of their healing process.

so many of the messages on that white board are from the survivors and the victims' families, and it's really incredible to read some of those messages. messages in french, in arabic, in english, dutch and polish. it really gives you a sense this is a tragedy that has touched people around the world. there was one message in spanish that read, "love for all, even for them for they know not what they do." a tremendous outpouring of compassion as well. rosemary. >> erin mclaughlin reporting for us live there from brussels. of course, as that gentleman said, life goes on. but the focus now on the security there, making sure people are safe going forward. many thanks to you, erin. for many it was a surprise storm in myanmar, and that may have contributed to the deaths. according to the country's state-run newspaper, the storm battered parts of myanmar with hail, killing six people on friday. some witnesses reported hailstones the size of coconuts.

hundreds of homes were damaged, and it's not over yet. thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected in the coming hours. >> and we're seeing a lot of this extreme weather. our meteorologist pedram javaheri joins us to talk about other extreme weather conditions and what this all means for people in the region. >> this region has been so hard hit in recent days as you said. six fatalities. we know of course significant damage to property. some 450 roofs have been reported punctured across portions of myanmar, and 300 domesticated animals losing their lives here. very important significance to the economy and lifestyle of folks across this region. i want to show you some of these images because as you would imagine, if you get outside and look at some of the perspective across parts of myanmar, some of the hailstones potentially a little smaller, some as large as coconuts. literally looks like it's snowed across this tropical region. of course the significant damage that took place as well from

these hailstones that some sides getting very large. to think about hailstones, when it comes to size and variability in size, it depends on the up draft speed or the wind speeds within these thunderstorms. to get up to the size of a softball or coconut, you'd have to have winds blowing up to 166 kilometers per hour or north of 100 miles per hour straight up into these thunderstorms to support something that large to be able to stay aloft and continue to get larger. so again you see the variability but that is as severe as a storm gets to get a hail storm to reach this size and intensity. of course lightning strikes have been very prevalent across this region as well. it is the premonsoon heat that develops and this shows you the global distribution of lightning strikes. the u.s. hot spot is the state of florida. basically about 50 strikes per square kilometer. then you broaden out the perspective, and we know 70% of our lightning strikes on our planet actually occur on the tropical region. notice the vast majority want to be directly over land, not over water as there's more heat build

up. of course southeast asia into the tropics we go where you see the intensity quite high as well as indicated by the color contours. not too far away in india, there's been a major drought in place. this has led to 90 fatalities in recent days. massive drought and heat in place as well. parts of nine states in india reporting extreme heat warnings that have been in place. in fact, look at some of these observations. 49 degrees sels yusz, that is 120 fahrenheit, that by the way is the hottest temperature on our planet on sunday. the average is around 38 celsius. the average being 100 fahrenheit there, getting to 120. so it shows you the intensity of all of this. compare that what occurred across portions of india to the norm on one of the hottest places on our planet. death valley gets up to 47 on average. that's 116. this region in india, 30,000 people live here, of course air-conditioning very unlikely in a lot of these places.

electricity is not in place. and humidity is extremely high as well. so this has this multiple effect where you have long term event and fatalities start adding up. last year, over 2,500 heat fatalities in india. >> that humidity contributes to how hot it feels. >> exactly and your body can't officially cool itself off. >> thanks a lot. beyonce has released her latest album, fueling a lot of speculation about her personal life. plus prince's album sales are soaring days after the music legend's sudden death. more on these stories still to come. "learn how to make the perfect macaron... come back and open your own authentic french bakery?" "i think i need credit karma too." "check out credit karma today."

the latest now on the efforts to bring back nigeria's missing girls. it has been two years since they were abducted from their school in chibok by boko haram. >> our senior correspondent,

nima alba here was the first reporter to show the world this. proof of life. the video of some of the girls who were kidnapped. now she is on patrol with nigerian forces deep in the heart of the battlefield against boko haram. here is her exclusive report. >> reporter: monday market in made ugry. two men sowing absolute panic. quickly subdued. normality returned but it gives you a sense of the tension here as boko haram have lost their territorial footprint or much of it, they're growing increasingly reline on releasing waves of suicide bombers into the heart of maiduguri and beyond. in a city on edge, no one is above suspicion. maiduguri is at the heart of the nigerian's army's campaign to retake boko haram territory

under their operation, peace by any means, spread out across the country's vast northeast. the road to the sambisa forest, or what's been cleared so far. relentless heat bears down on our heavily armored convoy. soft sand, ideal hiding holes for ids. the scout in the lead directing on convoy on and off the track. two years ago when we visited chibok after the mass abduction of the chibok schoolgirls, parents described to us how they followed the trail of their daughters to the front gates, to the entry point of the sambisa forest and were unable to move any further. this is the sambisa. the nigerian government has been able to start clawing back territory here from boko haram, but the sambisa fortress, the

territory right in the center, that is still where they're moving towards. and this is where some of the chibok girls are believed to still be held. say you're out on a patrol like this. what are your scouts looking for? are they looking for tracks? are they looking for -- do they specifically know that this area will have had heat signals or using thermal imaging? what techniques are you using to get you closer? >> the necessary players like imaging, but we rely a lot on the americans that have provided the planes that give some form of information as to cluster of groups of persons. we try to search out for footprints, and sometimes we see children, their footprints on the ground. >> reporter: as if on cue, a surveillance plane flies

overhead. one of the eyes in the sky. >> here, here. >> reporter: back in maiduguri, the major general tells us he's proud of his men, but they are in need of more international support. why do you think it's taking so long to find the girls? >> well, the question of chibok girls remains a sore point in our history. we think that from the intelligence that the remaining areas that, you know, we're walking to, moving to, we want to see if we're able to rescue the chibok girls. >> reporter: he is tasked both with following the girls' two year old trail and waging war against boko haram's insurgency in the face of frightening frustration. >> it's a huge challenge, and the mandate is enormous.

>> reporter: the threat remains? >> the threat remains. of course just like in other areas. >> reporter: the commander allowed us to join his men moving east towards the bow could ha rahm front lines to see for ourselves. boko haram do indeed appear to have been pushed back, but their presence lingers. everywhere you look, scenes of devastation. all the way through our journey cross country, we've seen village after abandoned village, devastated, destroyed. what boko haram couldn't loot, they attempted to burn to the ground, and people are still too afraid to come back to their homes. but the hope is the longer the nigerian military maintain their hold on the territory up here, the more people's confidence will grow. the more willing they'll be to return and reclaim their lives and their homes. nima elbagir, cnn, northeast nigeria.

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♪ she don't love you like i love

you. slow down ♪ >> beyonce is taking her fans on a roller coaster of emotions, getting raw and personal with her latest album, "lemonade." she debuted an hour-long visual album with a series of stylized music videos for her new songs. >> this album is available exclusively on her husband jay z's streaming music service, tidal. speaking of, album sales for prince have soared following the music leng end's sudden death. his albums dominated the top spots on apple i tunz. >> prince was found dead at his paisley park compound on thursday. >> the senior editor of in touch weekly joins us now from los angeles. kim, great to see you again. tributes to prince were just everywhere over the weekend. his music still playing from cars to, you know, stores and shops that i'm passing by, and

rightly so. he was a massive music icon. >> yeah, exactly. i went into a few stores yesterday, including the supermark supermarket. it was prince music playing. people were kind of dancing along a little bit. you're right. prince music is everywhere right now, and the sales of his music are soaring on amazon, in the top five on itunes also in the top six. this is what people are buying and obviously it makes sense. he had sold 100 million records, but he very famously pulled all of his music off of streaming services. so you're not hearing it on spotify. if you want to hear his music, you have to buy it or he put it all on tidal. so he was one of those musicians way before his team because he really did this long before even digital music started. he really wanted ownership of his music. so he really set the standard, i think, for so many artists. and there is unreleased music involved, so we could be hearing more prince music for years and years to come, morale bums. >> to me, that's the most jou dropping aspect of all of this

because now it's a rehashing of his great classics and to think that there's more unreleased collaborations? who knows what it is? he may live on through his music truly. nbc's "saturday night live" had a tribute show for prince as well hosted by jimmy fallon. >> this is pretty amazing. watching this. jimmy fallon hosted the show and they showed a lot of those clips of prince playing on "snl" over the years. it was great to see that. one thing that was so interesting was they showed him performing last year at the "saturday night live" 40th anniversary party. it had been unreleased, unseen by anyone. it looked like somebody kind of shot it with their iphone maybe, and it was incredible. jimmy fallon said he had heard maybe prince was there. he said, hey, if you're here, prince, come up and join the after-party. he said it was like 4:00 in the morning. watching him perform, it makes you realize what an incredible, incredible performer he always was and why he lasted through the decades. and of course "snl" was not the only place to have this tribute. bruce springsteen opened his

concert on saturday night. there's a tribute planned for cannes. that just shows you the influence he had on artists everywhere. >> he i had the privilege of watching him live once. he emerged from within the crowd with his guitar playing his hits. i just can imagine how he performed around the world. now, another huge star dropped a bit of a bombshell this weekend. beyonce released her long-awaited "lemonade" project. my girlfriend was telling me it was rumored to be a breakup project because jay z allegedly cheated on her, but he appears in this. can you set me straight on that? is that right? >> well, beyonce -- in a way, prince kind of set the standard and really led to something like beyonce releasing this secret album. it's pretty incredible. she released this. it was like a video special film on hbo and then the album was released on jay z's service on tidal. and in it all the songs have to do with marital strife and

cheating and breakup rumors, but it does end on a positive, happy note. it ends on forgiveness and happiness and how you make lemonade out of lemons, hence the title. but beyonce is so brilliant. it's amazing how she kept these videos and this music so secret for so long. again, something prince was able to do with his life and his private life. but beyonce, you have to give her credit. she did this. she got the internet and the world talking about this music. a lot of the reviews are saying this is one of her best albums ever. >> there's a lot of collaboration in there as well, serena williams and cameos. interesting, seismic weekend for music. kim, thanks for speaking with me. >> thanks so much. and thanks to you for your company. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. "early start" is next for those of you in the states. >> for everyone else, it is "cnn newsroom." have a great day. >> see you tomorrow.

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this morning, president obama set to announce sending 250 more special ops troops to syria. ted cruz and john kasich to join forces to deny donald trump the nomination. the fists are up. details of the shooting of the entire family in ohio. a marijuana grow operation found at the home where the family was killed. good morning. welcome to early start. i'm miguel marquez. >> i'm christine romans. happy monday morning. monday, april 25th. 4:00 a.m. in the