buried in a great monument looking back towards jerusalem, as a reminder. "i'm the king of the jews, even in my death." a horrifying series of attacks in sri lanka and the search for those responsible is under way. we have a live report for you. plus, a new direction for ukraine. petro poroshenko concedes defeat and the new president-elect, comedian, promises a bright future for his country. also ahead this hour, a soccer center once crucial in the recovery efforts after the 2011 nuclear disaster in japan now years later the same facility re-opening its doors. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world.

i'm george howell. the "cnn newsroom" starts right now. at 2:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast, it is a day of mourning in sri lanka after a series of deadly bombings that hit on easter sunday. a day later and the death toll continues to rise there. here is where things stand right now. there were eight different explosions on the island. the explosions killing 290 people. the bombs targeting four hotels and three churches. again, all of this happening on the day that christians around the world celebrated easter sunday in sri lanka. that community is devastated. the entire island is in mourning. the bombings appeared to have been coordinated attacks. police have at least two dozen arrests at this point, at least three police officers were killed in one of those raids. at this point, no group has come

forward to claim responsibility. as for the investigation itself in sri lanka, there may have been signs that an attack was in the works. a police source says that an intelligence memo circulated earlier this month. it said the leader of a muslim extremist group might be planning a suicide operation. the united states is also warning its citizens to take increased caution if traveling to the island. the state department saying terror groups continue plotting possible attacks. let's bring in cnn correspondent nakil kumar. 24 hours ago you and i were talking about these first reports of explosions. tell us more about what's happening right now on the ground. >> reporter: well, george, there was a curfew overnight all across this island of 21 million people in the aftermath of those

bombings. one of them took place where i'm standing, the cinnamon grand hotel around breakfast time here on easter sunday. one of the hotels hit along with the three churches that you mentioned. this morning the security forces are out in force all across this island and the hotel. any car going in been you c, yo the guard behind me that is armed. one of several spread across this area. being stopped, being checked, not allowed to enter unless everyone is frisked and they have some business in the hotel. this is true around every public place in columbo since we arrived. what seems like a very sophisticated attack, a series of bombs, how it all came about in a country that in the past has seen terror. it's been through a very violent civil war that devastated this country for almost three decades. but it's going to be the tenth anniversary of the end of that war next month, and people here have been getting used to some

normalcy, to peace. so the biggest question that everybody has here today is why has this happened to us? why are we back there all over again. george? >> nakil, there was this memo circulating warning of a possible attack. what are authorities saying about that as it does appear the memo may have just been overlooked here. >> reporter: well, george, the prime minister has said that he was not aware of the memo, and that now there is going to be an investigation to see what was known, what warnings there were and why they weren't heeded. but the memo's become a major controversy here. ordinary people here have said that they've asked the question as to why wasn't more done. security, as i say, today has been stepped up in the aftermath of the attacks. why wasn't it done before the attacks to prevent this atrocity from happening in the first place? it's a major, major atrocity. you mentioned the death toll, already close to 300 people. if you think about it in context of the terror attacks that have taken place in this wider region in the last ten or so years.

the mumbai terror attacks, only 160 to 170 people, almost half of this. that was such a devastating attack. this is almost double already. george? >> nakil, if you would give us a sense of the history of that island, the ethnic and religious backgrounds also coming into play here because this nation, as you just pointed out, a decade past a civil war. >> reporter: that's right. throughout the '80s and the '90s and into the 2000s this country was devastated by a violent, brutal civil war which pitted the minority, which lives in the north, concentrated in the north of the country, against the majority which is in the south. christians were a minority in this country and were targeted yesterday in those church bombings. they're a minority and they belong to both communities. this targeting of a religious community like this on such a holy day, easter sunday, this is

unusual. this hasn't happened in recent years, and this is new over here. it's one of the things that people are trying to come to terms with. one, the return to violence, which people thought had ended in 2009, with the end of that war following a massive military offensive and the targeting of a minority. there have been tensions here, but there's been an effort from many quarters to try to reconcile in communities. in 2019 when the pope visited sri lanka, he held mass in columbo, and the message was very much one of reconciliation. that's really what's at stake after the attack, that has brought fear to this country. george? >> nakil kumar following this story for us. thank you. we'll keep in touch with you as you learn more from the investigation there. let's bring in greg barton, a professor of global islamic politics at deacon university in australia. joining us from melbourne. thank you for being here.

it's good to have you. >> thank you, george. >> let's talk more about the memo circulating warning of a possible suicide attack. how important do you feel this piece of information might have been in having some knowledge about this attack? >> well, george, as we're hearing, this is the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11 in a stable democracy. it's sort of old school going back to the last decade. they have these coordinated mass explosions. so a major intelligence failure. how did this happen? it appears a perfect storm. the government wasn't paying attention. the failure to pass on this april 11th memo that may have passed information from the indian raw intelligence agency, just mentioned a foreign intelligence agency. one possible explanation is that the former president and former prime minister, who has got a strong following in the security forces, these guys may have calculated that it was good to embarrass the current government. not wishing an attack, but nevertheless not letting them

have the full picture of the security situation. whatever the explanation, there was a perfect storm situation where a local terror group, we think, probably inspired by the islamic state, involving perhaps some of the 40 sri lankans who have gone to syria to fight with the islamic state pulled off a terrorist attack. >> one would hope the latter suggestion you offered there was not the reason that memo didn't circulate, but, again, the warning was not there and we see these attacks that took place. we're talking about these soft targets. soft targets, churches, hotels, the timing also key as well, on easter sunday when these churches would have been packed, when foreigners who travelled to sri lanka were staying in these hotels. >> that's right, george. soft targets by definition are easy. what's not easy is to pull off simultaneous high-powered explosions, six simultaneously

and two further subsequently and a ninth detected in a pipe bomb outside the airport. that's pretty hard to do because normally you get picked up by intelligence in your communications, and that's what's remarkable about this attack. so, you know, i'm speculating about what may be behind it in a political context, but in any democracy, interagency intelligence sharing, think of the 9/11 commission report, for example, sharing between cia and fbi. we all struggle with this, even in the best of times, and sometimes holding back information just a little bit too long and not giving enough information in the right time because of a sense of rivalry or whatever the turf war consideration may be can lead to a fatal error. and something like that may have happened here because otherwise even soft targets would not be hit so freely on such a scale, if somebody had been paying attention. >> greg, i want to touch on this with you as well. i asked nakil just a moment ago, but i think it's important here

to get a sense of the ethnic and religious divide, the tensions that exist in sri lanka and how that might play into what we saw just the other day. >> well, george, we're just a month shy coming up to the tenth anniversary of a truly horrible civil war that raged on for a quarter of a century. saw the insurgent ltt tiger group turn into a terror group with suicide bombings. in fact, they really pioneered for us, the entire world, the suicide bombing method. that involved a horrible end to the war. lots of human rights abuses alleged. 90,000 lives lost at least, but the last decade has been relatively peaceful. this is a successful multicultural nation, multiethnic, multireligious. 70% buddhist, but other communities who are catholics and christians, about 8%, about 10% muslims, and it has been a peaceful island.

you know, it's seen tourism numbers double in the space of five years. people like it because of the peacefulness. people get long well. we saw people queueing up in the thousands to donate blood after the blasts. this is very out of character. with a country which has had a troubled history, but which was thought to have got over this troubled history. >> and the christian community there a very small community. i believe, correct me if i'm wrong, around 7%. give us a sense, if you have any insight or thought, as to why that group, that small group would be targeted in sri lanka. >> yeah, it's about 7%, 8%, it's 82% catholic and the rest various protestant churches. the two biggest churches hit around colu around columbo on the west coast, but on the east coat was a protestant church.

this is speculation but, again, if this is indeed involving the islamic state or sum suome such external actor, targeting christians is very much part of their propaganda, their narrative. christians have been complaining for years to degrees of persecution and harassment. there have been troubles around the edges. the muslims have also been complaining about persecution. i think this comes from external factors. >> greg, you know, there is a lot that's left unanswered at this point. what we do know, clearly these attacks were coordinated. clearly, the time was important, on easter sunday, and at this point there are a lot of families who are now left without their loved ones. greg, thanks for your time. >> yeah, it's incredibly tragic. thank you, george. >> leaders from around the world have certainly condemned the attacks in sri lanka. they are sending their words of support from the nation. this from the former u.s. president barack obama, saying

the bombings were an attack on humanity. mr. obama adding, "on a day devoted to love, redemption and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of sri lanka." pakistan's prime minister also condemning the bombings. he tweeted this, "my profound condolences go to our sri lanka brethren. pakistan stands in complete solidarity with sri lanka in their hour of grief." turkey also, president erdogan had this message for people directly affected. "on behalf of the turkish people, i offer my condolences to the family of the victims and the people of sri lanka, and wish a speedy recovery to the injured." of course we continue to follow this story for you. for the very latest updates on what's happening in sri lanka and the bombings there, you can get that at cnn.com. still ahead here on newsroom, a political novice, even a comedian he is, well, he will be the next president of

ukraine and he will go toe-to-toe with the russian president vladimir putin. how will he fair? with that, we'll take a look. plus, paris holds its first sunday service since the notre dame fire. we'll tell you how the city is coping one week after that devastation. around the world and in the u.s., you're watching "newsroom." i stood outside, assessing the situation.

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as we learn more about the attacks, we also learn more about the victims. one of them, she was a well-known tv chef in sri lanka, popular in india and the united kingdom as well. her daughter apparently posted this image on facebook. that image posted right before the attacks. the family was sitting down for easter breakfast at the hotel in colombo. both the mother and daughter lost their lives. overall, 290 people were killed in these attacks. now to ukraine. the election there is over. people have spoken and now a comedian and tv star is that new president for that nation. voldymyr zelensky is the new

president. his only political experience is playing president on ukrainian tv. exit polls show that zelensky pulled about 73% of the vote in the presidential election. ukraine's current president petro poroshenko received about a quarter of the vote. cnn's phil black looks at the new challenges the president will face. >> reporter: the sitting president has been removed peacefully and democratically in ukraine. that's historic because the last one was forced out in a violent and hard -- fought revolution that left more than 100 people killed only five years ago. this election is also extraordinary because of who has won. voldymyr zelensky, the political novice, the professional comedian and actor. the man who has become famous in this country through pretending to be ukraine's president on a tv show. that show, "the servant of the people," shows zelensky playing a regular guy who accidentally becomes president and goes on to do battle with corrupt oligarchs

and politicians to try to clean up the political system here. zelensky's campaign was very much molded on thdelled on that. he made a virtue of his ignorance and inexperience. a fresh face. he didn't give many interviews. he didn't talk a lot about policy detail. he fought his campaign using online videos, often cheeky, mocking the old political guard in this country. his broad somewhat abstract message, that he's going to make it a better place. somehow. it worked. he led the campaign throughout. he easily won the first round of voting and in the run-off, exit polls suggest he secured around 73% of the vote. >> translator: i will never let you down. to all post-soviet countries, i tell you, look at us. everything is possible. we did it together thanks to everyone. now there will be no pathetic

speeches. i just want to say thank you. >> the hard work starts day one of the zelensky presidency. he inherits a troubled economy and a five-year war against russian-backed separatists in the east of the country. this professional clown will now be internationally going face-to-face with the vastly experienced president of russia, vladimir putin. all of this matters because ukraine represents the front line of the west's confrontation with russia across a wide range of issues. how zelensky's going to deal with all of this really isn't known because politically, publicly he represents essentially a blank piece of paper, but his enthusiasm, his smile and charisma, his sense of honesty, all of this has been enough to convince many ukrainians to support him, or at least help them realize that they simply don't want five more years of the same. phil black, cnn, kiev. >> phil black, thank you.

in sudan, protesters and opposition groups are cutting off contact with the military council, tmc. they've been in a sit-in since the president of that nation, omar al-bashir, was forced from office on april 11th. they're pushing for a swift handover to civilian rule. >> translator: to the masses of our people, the role of the armed forces is not to rule but to protect and defend the borders of the country. there is no recognition for any transitional authority and any coup d'etat authority. all of this will be considered unlawful. >> the opposition says the military council is made up of remnants of the bashir regime. in the meantime, the head of the council said several million euros and $350,000 was found in bashir's official residence.

officials say the money had been transferred to the bank and a formal arrest warrant has been issued for bashir on corruption charges. soldiers killed in an early morning attack according to the defense minister. no one has claimed responsibility. however, military posts in mali are routinely attacked by separatists and terror groups with links to al qaeda. now to paris where worshippers who were supposed to attend easter serves at notre dame, they were forced to celebrate elsewhere. many of them marked the holy day at a much smaller church nearby. notre dame burned down nearly a week ago. cnn's melissa bell shows us how paris is coping and how the disaster unfolded. >> reporter: the first signs of smoke were captured by the amateur footage of tourists. crowds gathered to watch in horror as the flames took hold

of the roof of notre dame. firefighters were on the scene within ten minutes of the second fire alarm, 23 minutes after the first. for hours they took on the flames in an operation they described as the most challenging they've ever faced. to the horror of onlookings, the cathedral's 19th century spire collapsed. it took 20 firefighters of the several hundred involved in the operation risking their lives to push them back and save the structure. outside, the faithful had gathered to pray and ♪ ♪ >> reporter: as the fire raged on through the night for nine hours. by morning, almost miraculously, the cathedral still stood. crowds gathered to take stock of what had been lost. like the roof-soaked beams known for the number of trees involved, some fell in the

1160s. but amist the damage, much to be thankful for, like the saving of the priceless art and relics. among them, the crown of thorns believed by christians to have been worn by jesus as he went to his krucrucifix. in just a week, more than $1 billion has been raised. >> translator: i tell you tonight with strength we are a nation of builders. we have so much to construct, so, yes, we will rebuild notre dame even more beautiful, and i want that to be done in the next five years. he can do it. >> reporter: since the fire, tributes have poured in from the indian ocean where 920 marines aboard the "charles de gaulle" aircraft carrier. investigators are looking into the possibility of a short circuit that may have been at the origin of a fire that has

changed paris' skyline forever. melissa bell, cnn, paris. still ahead, impeachment not off the table, according to some democrats. coming up, president trump's reaction to his aides' testimony and democrats' analysis of the mueller report. also ahead, how a soccer stadium is providing hope for people in japan still recovering from 2011's devastating earthquake and nuclear disaster. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase. now, full coverage super stay foundation... from maybelline new york. with full coverage pigments... stays on. stays flawless. up to 24-hour wear super stay foundation only from maybelline new york.

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xfinity watchathon week has sadly come to an end. what, what, what! it's the most wonderful life on earth. no! but don't let that stop you from watching the best shows and movies from showtime, hbo, epix... jesus, what happened? ...and more. it's just the tip of the iceberg. upgrade now to get more into what you're into. thanks! just say "watchathon" into your x1 voice remote to upgrade and keep getting more of what you love. welcome back to viewers here in the united states and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour.

in egypt, people are preparing for the third and final day of a national referendum vote. the constitutional amendments would allow the president of that nation to remain in office until 2030, and they could give him more power over legislative and judicial branches. critics say the proposals are a step toward authoritarianism. police in northern ireland are asking anyone with information for help about the death of journalist lyra mckee, the fatal shooting. people come forward about that. the prominent reporter killed on thursday as she covered a required in londonderry also known as derry. two teenagers arrested in connection with her death, released on sunday with no charges. the deadly bombings in sri lanka. police say they have arrested two dozen people since the wave of attacks. at least 290 people were killed in eight different blasts across the island. the u.s. state department is warning its citizens to increase

caution if traveling to the island. it says terrorist groups continue plotting other possible attacks. ♪ the catholic archbishop of colombo says his churches were targeted in those blasts, but after members of his congregation were killed, he isn't turning the other cheek. >> i'd also like to ask the government to hold a very impartial, strong inquiry and find out who is responsible behind this act. and also to punish them mercilessly because only animals can behave like that. >> again, that was the catholic archbishop of colombo speaking about the easter sunday bombings that hit sri lanka. here in the united states, congressional democrats are considering whether to impeach president donald trump. this following the release of

the mueller report. the house speaker will hold a conference call with party members on monday afternoon to discuss what's next. our boris sanchez has more on the president's reaction to the fallout from that report. >> reporter: according to sources, president trump spent the weekend at mar-a-lago fuming over news coverage and details in the mueller report from former white house officials that depict a white house in chaos. president trump as an angry and paranoid president and aides who either refuse or ignore many of his orders. meantime, the president's attorney, rudy giuliani, took to the sunday morning talk shows. he spoke with jake tapper on "state of the union" and jake pressed him on a question about the behavior of some trump campaign officials and whether they behaved ethically or morally. listen to what he said. >> no, no, there's nothing wrong with taking information from russians. >> there's nothing wrong with taking information? >> it depends on where it came from. it depends on where it came from. you're assuming that the giving of the information is a campaign

contribution. read the report carefully. the report says we can't conclude that because the law is pretty much against that. people get information from this person, that person. >> the strategy being employed here by the white house is one that we've seen before. they're now calling into question the credibility of many of those that were interviewed by the special counsel. we should also point out, house speaker nancy pelosi is set to hold a conference call at 5:00 p.m. on monday with the democratic caucus to discuss the potential for impeaching president trump. impeachment was on the president's mind on sunday evening when he tweeted this. he writes, "how do you impeach a republican president for a crime that was committed by the democrats? make america great again." boris sanchez, cnn, traveling with the president in palm beach, florida. >> boris, thank you for the reporting. now for context, let's bring in peter matthews, a political analyst joining us this hour from los angeles. a pleasure, peter. >> good to hear from you, george. >> let's start with the president's attorney, rudy

giuliani, essentially saying there is nothing wrong with taking information from russians. he says it all just depends on where it came from. what do you make of that assessment? >> i think it's absolutely wrong because the united states democracy means that the american people choose the leaders that will choose our policies, not some foreign government's influence. that's against principle, for sure, and it certainly becomes an in-kind contribution, it's totally illegal. he was way off. i think giuliani is striking out wildly, calling people hit men, investigators for the mueller team. calling andrew weisman a hit-man. what kind of counterattack is this? they should accept what happens and let regular procedures of the house of representatives go through, in my view. >> boris did point out in his report that mr. trump is angry about former staffers, according to sources, describe a white house that is in chaos, with some of his own people refuelling to carry out his orders. he is angry about that apparently, but isn't it the case, peter, that the actions of

some of those staffers may have saved mr. trump from actual obstruction of justice? >> exactly. that's the irony of the whole thing because, for example, when mr. trump ordered the white house counsel, don mcgahn, to get in touch, you know, with jeff sessions and tell him to recuse himself against the advice of other people who told him not to do that since it's obstruction of justice. the fact is don mcgahn disobeyed the president and saved the president's hide. otherwise he would have been in big trouble. that's the kind of thing we're talking about here. it is very ironic but it's true. >> the question for democrats, it comes down to whether they should lean in to more investigations, whether they should consider impeachment proceedings or focus, rather, on the issues that are important to people on main street ahead of the 2020 election. republicans warn if they don't do that, peter, it could backfire on them. which hand do you see democrats playing most aggressively in the months ahead?

>> i think they should really try to play both hands because it's both their duty to pass legislation, the legislative branch after all, but it's also important they are the investigative branch, the constitution says they're the ones that are supposed to investigate. the house of representatives given a grand jury to investigate if the president has committed any called high crimes and misdemeanors. first of all, investigate, i would say. don't do it prematurely, but investigate right now and decide whether you can come up with articles of impeachments, that's the duty of the congress, a very important duty of the house and then a trial in the senate for removal of the president. that remains to be seen if it can be done or not. the congress should not give up its duty because it has to win the next election. that's not conducive to democracy, in my view, george. >> when it comes down to public perception, here's the question, peter. lawmakers on capitol hill are focused on many of the details of this report. do people care about those

details? looking ahead at this election. >> i can tell you this, in the most recent polling after the report hit, the president's lost 3% of his approval rating down 37% from 40% because people saw mr. mueller could not clear him. mr. mueller came out in the report and said that he concluded he cannot assure that no criminal conduct had occurred. so mueller said we don't have enough evidence to actually indict him, but we don't have evidence to clear him, so the congress should investigate and mueller implied that in the statement, that congress has a duty as the investigative branch, the house, to start the procedure of investigating to see if any high crimes and misdemeanors occurred. i think the congress should do both and the constitution requires it, george, otherwise we're a banana republic, so to speak, saying let's win the next election. i understand the concern of nancy pelosi. senator warren's called for it, congresswoman ocasio-cortez has called for it and many others.

the public may start changing their minds on this. 50/50 right now who supports impeachment or even investigating it, but i think the tide will change if the investigation continues very carefully, as it should. >> peter matthews in los angeles. peter, thank you. >> my pleasure, george. thank you. >> and a note to viewers, you can hear from five of the democrats hoping to take mr. trump's job next year later on monday. cnn is hosting back-to-back town hall meetings with senators amy klobuchar, elizabeth warren, bernie sanders, kamala harris and mayor pete rounds out the five town halls. it all starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern time in the united states. midnight london. here on cnn. eight years ago, a devastating earthquake shook northeastern japan unleashing a savage tsunami and the nuclear disaster. and now a soccer field re-opens and more than just a place to kick the football, though. it's a symbol of hope. we'll have that story ahead. stay with us.

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in the aftermath of the 2011 fukushima nuclear disaster in japan, a local soccer facility was converted in a base for recovering activities -- recovery activities, i should say, but now eight years later after that disaster, the j village soccer facility has re-opened. it's now a symbol of reconstruction, and as our amanda davies reports, the road to recovery for the area around it, well, that's far from over. ♪ [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: 83 years of age,

she is settling back into the community she was forced to evacuate in 2011 when the deadly earthquake and tsunami hit and triggered a meltdown at fukushima's daiichi power plant. it's a very different town than the one she grew up in. [ speaking japanese ] ♪ >> reporter: this is an area still rebuilding. measuring radiation levels are a constant reminder, and ito is in the minority in terms of residents who have decided to come back. eight years on from the disaster, and the devastation is still all too obvious here in

tomioko. until two years ago, this was all part of the no -- go zone because of rediation. residents have been allowed back as of april of 2017, but as you can see, many have chosen not to return. do you have any concern living here with the radiation? [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: authorities insist the area is now safe and much of the redevelopment that has taken place can be looked at through the prism of the national football center known as the j village and the journey that it's been through. [ speaking japanese ]

>> and the world cup for japan! >> reporter: it was only four months after the disaster struck that the japan women's team won the football world cup for the first time. if the beautiful game was a long way from the minds of those in the midst of the cleanup, fukushima was definitely at the forefront for the players 9,000 miles away and for ias in particular. [ speaking japanese ]

>> reporter: 23 at the time was someone who played her domestic football for a team based at the j village. >> i know your coach actually showed some pictures, some images from here before the quarterfinal. what was that like for you? [ speaking japanese ] >> wow, i'm sorry. >> reporter: the feelings are still so raw, we had to stop talking about it. she worked for the company that ran the nuclear plant and played for the football team that sponsored it, tepko. she tells me she feels guilt

that her football career was able to flourish once she moved to the united states, her teammates didn't get that opportunity. >> i'm okay. [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: the world cup success didn't quite allow victims of the disaster to forget what had happened, but it certainly had a positive impact. [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: it's from the j village that japan's women are preparing their challenge for this year's world cup in france. and it's also been announced that next year the facility will host the start of the japanese leg of the tokyo 2020 olympic torch relay. it's a move authorities hope will shine a light on the area's reconstruction. but one that has faced criticism from those who feel there's

still a long way to go until the area's fully restored to the way it once was. [ speaking japanese ] >> reporter: with authorities estimating it will take 40 years for the nuclear plant to be rendered safe and reminders of the disaster everywhere you look, even if sport will help this area be known for something more than the disaster around the world, to the local community, whilst the building blocks are in place, the road to recovery goes on. amanda davis, cnn, fukushima, japan. >> heavy flood waters in quebec

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colombia has claimed at least 14 lives. this according to that country's disaster relief agency which adds five other people have been injured. landslides are common during the rainy season in the mountainous country. also, severe weather claiming a life in canada. canadian media report a 72-year-old woman died after driving her car into a massive sinkhole caused by heavy floodwaters. three cities in western quebec including pontiac have declared states of emergency because of flooding. canadian armed forces are helping residents impacted by the rising water there. our meteorologist pedram javaheri is following it all in the international weather center. pedram? >> yeah, george, quite a number of folks on this particular event here. 1,600 canadian armed forces dealing with the significant flooding. really resembles what was playing out a couple of weeks ago across the american united states. essentially the same pattern taking shape across portions of

southern canada. heavy rainfall in recent days. tremendous warmth in recent days as well. all of that impressive amount of snowfall that came down from the months of november through really the last couple of weeks, it snowed across this region about eight days ago, so a lot of that beginning to melt and melting very rapidly. so we've seen reports of some of these rivers, not farther south of quebec city, rising at about 25 centimeters or 10 inches per hour on sunday morning. the mayor saying that's the highest level he's seen the water there on record. you take a look. warmest temperature in six months. 17 celsius in quebec city. a dramatic drop in the temperatures, but what's key here is we're going to stay above freezing. that said, all the snowfall still on the ground melting very quickly. the storm system that brought in the severe weather brought in very heavy rainfall into portions of southern canada. all of that leading to the flooding that is taking place

across parts of quebec. unfortunately, that trend going to continue for a couple more days. the wet weather, the heaviest rainfall, shifts in towards oklahoma, northwestern texas. that's an area of interest for severe weather going into monday afternoon and monday evening. about 3/4 of a million people impacted across this region. lubbock, texas, mainly the area of concern at this point. damaging winds and large hail being the predominant threats. isolated tornadoes possible across the particular region. notice very quiet pattern. look at the time stamp, taken to 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 p.m., the thunderstorms often the most dangerous because it happens at nighttime, people are asleep or unaware what's happening and that's what makes these nighttime severe weather events that much more dangerous. >> i was born in amarillo. i remember what it meant to go into the underground tornado shelters when the storms came through. very important for folks to watch out for those storms. pedram, thank you.

>> absolutely. thanks, george. paris is paying tribute to the victims of the sri lankans attacks. the other came at the stroke of midnight. as you can see the eiffel tower, it went dark for a few minutes, remembering the lives of the many people who were killed in these bombings. thank you for being with us for "newsroom" this hour. another hour of news is right after the break. stay with us. verizon got us vip tickets three feet away from justin timberlake. and to say vip is an understatement, because i sawww justin timberlake. he literally looked into the phone and started dancing-- well, he was already dancing-- locked eyes and continued dancing. every now and then, i'm like, "wait, did that happen?" (gasps) i've got photos of it, it must have. (vo) get more music on us with verizon up, the rewards program that gets you vip tickets. plus, get a free galaxy s10e when you buy one, and $400 when you switch. only on verizon.

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a devastating tragedy shakes sri lanka and now a day later it's still unclear who is responsible for the deadly easter sunday bombings there. we'll have a live report ahead for you. one of president trump's lawyers calls an investigator from the mueller probe a hit-man and he dismisses the entire team as, "unfair to mr. trump". also ahead this hour, people use row boats to get through some of the streets in quebec as intense flooding shuts down part of the region. we are live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta and we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. the "cnn newsroom"