mark, thank you.s let's go now to holly williams who is in the german town of haltern. holly. >> reporter: scott, this town of 30,000 people is holding a candlelit vigil tonight after 18 of its residents were killed in the crash, most of them i teenagers.he in haltern today, the church bells tolled for the dead in this small german town that can hardly understand its loss. 16 of those who lost their liveswh were students at haltern's high school, traveling home from an exchange trip to spain with twoin of their teachers. >> i and the town, we are very shocked at this moment. >> reporter: this close-knitdo k town's mayor, bodo klimpel, told us two of the girls who died were family friends. >> they-- they called in the morning with sons and daughters,d and they didn't arrive, and now the parents are very shocked. >> reporter: other families gathered in dusseldorf and in barcelona to hear the worst news possible-- no survivors and no hope of finding any.th "all i can say is that i feel terribly sorry," said the german chancellor angela merkel. "our thoughts and prayers are

these teenagers at haltern they have lost classmates and loved ones. what kind of services are important of a this insdent? >> it depends on the individual. it depends on what you need when you have lost someone close to you. some want to mourn. some have very high anger. some want to continue going and keep on with life. it is a good thing to offer everything so they can continue to go to school tomorrow or to be at home and take some time. everything is ok now that is supporting. >> these services are widely available in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event. but what about in the weeks and months to come? what happens then? >> it depends very much on where you live, whether you have access to professional support. most of the people that suffer from shock now do not need professional help that maybe some others may. >> what have we learned from other tragedies in the recent past in terms of getting the most effective counseling for people who need it? >> we have learned a lot from 9-1-1 and from 1998, the i. c. e. train crash. what is very im

the town of haltern in germany has been hit hard. 16 teenagers and their teachers from a local school were on the plane, rushing from a spanish language exchange programme. one community changed forever in a sudden moment of tragedy. >> and one of the black boxes was apparently found fairly soon after the accident. do we know if it has started to yield information that could be useful in terms of the investigation? >> well the french interior americans said that the black box was damaged but still useable. that's how he described it. apparently of the two flight recorders, this is the one that records the voices of the pilots, and also the ambient sound in the cockpit. so they are hoping it will give details about the vital last-minute before contact was lost. in fact, another french official says the key moment for investigators will be between 10:30 and 10:31 in the morning, local time on tuesday, the last minute. and they'll nls that information to get more clues about what might have caused the crash. investigators are saying they will not ruled out an option. they are saying it l

one germantown in particular was touched by the crash, the town of haltern which is mourning the lossf 16 exchange students who were killed in the flight along with their teacher. reporter: shock and grief in haltern, as the small germantown comes to terms with the loss of 18 of his residence in tuesday's put -- tragic plane crash. >> the relatives first heard the news in the media. when the plane didn't land and they were unable to make contact with their friends and classmates by phone, that's when they assumed the worst. reporter: among the victims, 16 high school students and two teachers. they were on their way back from an exchange program in spain. mourners gathered together outside the school tuesday evening, leaving flowers and lighting candles as a way to pay their respects. >> the town is totally silent. nothing is happening anymore in town. everyone is in total shock. i feel with them. i ache with them. reporter: haltern's mayor said a team of counselors and psychologists had been dispatched to care for the victims' families. >> as you can imagine, people are in shock. i t

reporter: it has been a sad day for haltern am see a town under a collective shock. the people who suffer the most our school children who lost close friends and family. 50 counselors are working with them to give them some comfort. on thursday, the school will open again. but like today, classes are unlikely to take place. sarah: the shock continues to grow in the countries in which most of the passengers came from, spain and germany. sumi: german officials visited today. the chancellor joint commemoration in parliament. reporter: german chancellor angela merkel expressed her shock after the revelation that the germanwings copilot may have crashed the plane on purpose. chancellor merkel: this information hits me the same way it must hit most people. it goes beyond all imagination. we do not know yet the whole background, and therefore it remains important that there are further inquiries. reporter: -- the government says security services could not have prevented the attack. the interior minister says there was nothing suspicious in the pilot's background. interior

the mayor of haltern gave a distraught press conference.t's have a listen to what he told us. >> i'm here and i can talk with people and with the parents and the brothers and sisters. the only thing that i can do is to be here. >> reporter: christine, lufthansa has organized flights for relatives of those killed from both dusseldorf and barcelona to go to a special crisis center in marseille and to be taken as close to the crash site as they possibly can get to help in their grieving process while investigators try to piece together the clues too why flight 9525 went down. christine. >> thanks for that, diana magnay. >>> yemen erupting. saudi arabia launching air strikes against houthis rebels. u.s. on the sidelines providing intelligence support. senior correspondent nick paton walsh monitoring this from kabul, afghanistan this morning. a tense and tough situation there. nick. >> reporter: this really was a nation that is already in chaos and anarchy now headed into a regional conflict. saudi jets have been cleared. they have taken out hou

but here in haltern, the grief is more personal. >> i can't believe it. a very -- very shocking situation. >> reporter: the town's mayor bodo klimpel, they're stunned. >> enough people to care for and to speak with them and with the parents, also if they want. >> reporter: we spoke to one of the students here earlier who told us today they held a special assembly to mourn their friends, and he told us that some of the students were crying, but others appeared to be in a state of shock, because they still can't believe that has happened. gayle? >> nobody can. thank you, holly williams in haltern, germany. >>> later in this broadcast we'll talk to peter greenberg about the black box discovery and the unusual factors involved in this crash. we'll dive deeper into the mystery ahead on cbs "this morning." >>> this morning two of the biggest brands you'll find in the supermarket aisle announce add huge merger. kraft foods group and h.j. heinz joining forces saying they will create the third largest food and beverage company in north america. kraft stock took a

and now haltern is in mourning. cnn's rosie tompkins is in dusseldorf with the very latest. rosie? >> reporter: hi christine. yes, i'm at the airport in dusseldorf where of course this flight was intended to as its destination, before the terrible tragic crash occurred. this is where many of the families headed on tuesday when they received the news of the crash in order to try and get some answers. and of course they had their worst fears confirmed when they found that their loved ones had indeed been on board. they set up a crisis center here at the airport for those family members in order to provide support where they could psychologists help them with the trauma of this loss. the airline has also offered to fly family members to the region in the french alps should they want to get closer to the site just to be nearer to the location of the crash where their lost loved ones are. and meanwhile,ist a it's a nation in mourning. as you mentioned, 16 students just 80 kilometers north of here and that town feeling the tremendous impact of that loss. two teachers were also on board t

they were flying home from a class trip to spain to visit spanish students who had traveled to halternt year. >> they were just excited to see them again, to go to spain and just have a good time, and-- yeah, now they won't come back. >> reporter: adina hahlbom counted several of the teenagers who lost their lives as hir friends. >> i still feel like they are going to come here again and just tell us what the trip was like, and tell us about their future plans. i just can't believe it. >> reporter: in this rural community of just 35,000 nearly everyone knew someone who was on board the plane. >> i think a lot of parents still have to, you know, let it sink in and have to see how-- how to with this terrible loss they're going through. >> reporter: the school's vice principal susanne baldauf is grieving for her two colleagues and 16 young people she'd watched grow up. she met with some of their parents this morning. >> everybody yeah is-- is in disbelief and kind of a state of shock, the whole town really. >> reporter: across germany tomorrow, to remember those who died in the crash, the

as you say 18 of those from the town of haltern. the joseph koenig gymnasium behind me. the students and teachers left a week ago for a foreign language trip. the classmates and friends have been laying flowers and memorials of the students lost. the signs here saying "warum." meaning why. as relative its ss of the deceased are being flown to dusseldorf and then to the crash site. at 10:53 a.m. local time the time the germanwings flight went down there will be a moment of silence in the town of haltern and the schools around the region to remember those who died. >> thank you, diana magnay. >>> to yemen now. overnight, breaking yemen erupting and saudi arabia launching air strikes against iranian backed houthi rebels. the fight to stabilize yemen is a key u.s. ally is threatening to escalate into all-out war. cnn's becky anderson is live for us this morning. becky, this is a conflict in an important country that threatens to become a regional instability. that is a real problem. >> reporter: the consequences of this are remarkable. this is what we know. saudi arabia war

thank you, holly williams in haltern, germany. a little later we'll talk with peter greenberg about the black box discovery and everything involved in the crash. we'll dive deeper ahead on "cbs this morning." >>> just in this half hour, two of the biggest brands in the supermarket i'll have formed the hugest merger ever. craft and heinz will merge. the deal is worth $40 billion. cbs news analyst jill schlesinger says it may affect the way we shop and eat. this is huge. when you think of it. oscar mayer, philadelphia heinz, kraft, all in one company. >> they're american iconic brands, which is very interesting. we've got cracker bare el oscar myer, jell lowe all of these in one place. again, a 40$40 billion deal. they combined. at tend. 49% kraft, 51% heinz. >> i want to know why private equity is so interested. >> they love this. they consider it a bloated industry that has not kept up with the times. look at specifically kraft has had a lot of problem as tastes have changed, consumers shifting to healthier kinds of food. they're

the mayor of haltern said the are commendations were be celebrated. dominic cane has the report. >> in the town of hasden emzee one school had sent its year 10 people 16-year-olds, 16 of them with two of their teachers, to spain for a week long cultural visit and it has been confirmed that those pupils those students and their teachers were indeed on the plane. the school has closed for lessons. there will be no lessons tomorrow but the school will be open to allow students to come in to talk about this tragedy which has taken 16 students out of the community, two of the teachers as well this a small town, small community. already there have been floral tributes candles left outside of the school as a show of respect for those who died. luftluft hanluft hanlufthansa and germanwings have been looking into this incident what caused this plane to come down they are hoping that the answer will come soon. >>> nearly 10,000 u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. president obama said he has accepted the request of president ashraf ghani to stagger the pullout of troo

. >> germany's head of state joined hundreds of people at this church in haltern amzie. >> translator: i came out of the church in the midst of people who have lost the most precious thing to them. a child a loved one. i sat among the drowd and heard the sobbing of -- crowd and heard the people sobbing to mourn their loss and i wanted to mourn with them. >> andreas lubitz apparently flew the a-230 into the mountains on purpose. investigators found evidence from the doctors which shed more light on his mental state. >> medical documents pointing to illness around corresponding treatment from doctors. the fact that there were torn up sick documents. trying theat the crash site they are looking for victims notifying their relatives will be a slow process. then there's the question of accountability. >> translator: should it be the case that the colleague who signed off sick, have to be very clear. someone with a sick note has no business being in the cockpit. he should have signed off. we don't understand that. >> left their own tributes at a memorial near the spot where their loved ones

at this point i should point out, we got a statement in, a spokesperson for the town of haltern, 40 miles from dusseldorf, they confirmed to my colleague that 16 students and two teachers from a school there were booked on germanwings flight, but it is not yet confirmed they were all on board. classes at the school finished early today, there's a team of first aiders and counselors helping friends and relatives. obviously devastating news to hear the loss of life the loss of potentially young lives here. but this investigation is just beginning. they're not even at the crash site yet. >> we just received reports that they may be arriving in the general vicinity of the crash site and although every aviation accident results in so many injuries of loss of life it is such a tragedy, we have to remember that scheduled airline flying is some of the safest in the world. >> let's talk about some of the details that we know here regarding this. there's a quote from a man who owns a campground near the crash site. says at 11:30, heard a series of loud noises in the air. says there are often fighte

reporting from haltern in germany. many thanks. >>> still to come on cnn, a u.s. soldier-turned-war prisoner is charged with desertion. why bowe bergdahl's former team leader feels justice is finally being served. many wbut hope...ms come with high hopes, doesn't work on wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula... to work on fine lines and even deep wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. >>> u.s. army skpapth former taliban p.o.w. bowe bergdahl has formally been charged with desertion. >> bergdahl was released in a controversial prisoner swap last year, you'll recall no doubt. he disappeared from the battlefield in afghanistan in 2009, then spent five years in captivity. now he could spend the rest of his life in prison. barbara starr has the latest. >> reporter: sergeant bowe bergdahl released by the taliban after being held captive for five years could face imprison. at home. the army now charging him with desertion and "misbehavior before the enemy. engaging in "shamefully abandoning his unit." two of the most serious counts i

germany's head of state joins hundreds of people in this church at haltern. killed in the french alps as they returned from a school trip to spain. >> translator: i came out of the church in the midst of people who have lost the most precious thing to them, a child a loved one. i sat among the crowd and heard the sobbing of people who mourn their loss and i wanted to mourn with them. >> reporter: in germany many people are struggling to understand why andreas lubitz flew the plane into the mountain side on purpose. he suffered a serious bout of depression in 2009 for which he received treatment and now prosecutors say they found important evidence in his parents house and in dusseldorf which shed more light on his mental state. >> medical documents were confiscated pointing towards existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors. the fact there were torn up sick notes even as recently as the day of the crime the deceased hit his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues. >> at the crash site in southern france they are still going thro

kris van cleave, cbs news haltern, germany. >>> ministers from six countries trying to strike a nuclear deal with iran are meeting with foreign minister today. secretary of state john kerry is attending the meeting in switzerland. the deadline for reaching an agreement is tomorrow but both political and technical issues remain. mark albert has more. good morning, mark. >> good morning. it's looming large. while officials involved with the talks this weekend said the country had agreed to send it to >> reporter: they want them to keep provisions that would prevent the country from getting a nuclear weapon for at least a decade. in return they're seeking immediate relief from crippling sanctions. there are questions over a major unresolved issue whether iran will comply to ship all the rich uranium it produces to russia. here a debate continues on whether to roll out more sanctions on iran if a deal is not reached. >> when you begin to see all these leaks that probably came out of the white house in terms of what the iranian deal was starting to shape up to be, there's a lot of concern in

and if the small german town of haltern, the loss is felt - where the students and teachers were from. candles and flowers are laid outside the school. the major of hall interpret said it was the darkest day in the history of our city. >> translation: as one can imagine people are in shock. i think many have not grasped what happened and i think that grief will come later. a lot of despair is understandable and a normal reaction to people of horrific news. >> translation: the town is slept. -- silent. nothing is happening. i came here. everyone is shock. i work with teenagers, i have to be here. i feel with them i ache with them. >> dominic kane is in dusseldorf and has this update. >> as reports filtered in across germany of the disaster involving the german wings flight concern was expressed at governmental level and the airline level. and amongst the popular level, and particularly in one community not far from here in the town where local families with deep concerns because a school had sent its year 10 pupils 16-year-olds, 16 of them, with two teachers to spain for a week-long cu

. >> thank you so much at that site at the school in haltern where 16 students and two teachers have been booked on the flight that had the fatal crash. much more on this breaking news up ahead and also israel responding to a report it spied on the u.s. during iran nuclear negotiations. ang us king joins me next from the intelligence committee. this is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular can of soda. and this is a soda a day for a year. over an average adult lifetime that's 221,314 cubes of sugar. but you can help change that with a simple choice. drink more water. filtered by brita. ♪ and introducing our new advanced filter, now better than ever. you can call me shallow... but, i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more. and i do. oh, the silent treatment. real mature. so you wanna get out of here? go national. go like a pro. [chorus singings:] ♪ roundup ♪ i'm the protector of my patio. killing weeds where they grow. a barrier forms so weeds can't

and then there is the pain of haltern.rs and flowers for those 16 tenth graders and two teachers lost in the crash. one of your student died. >> yes, linda, she's 15 and a half year old. i cannot realize it it's so so -- so sad and cannot believe this. what happened to them. >> reporter: tonight this school has released the names of the students and teachers and they've issued a statement, one that echos in so many places around the world, saying they will never be forgotten in our hearts. david? >> terry, thank you again tonight. i want to get right to abc's david kerley, who covers aviation for us. authorities have confirmed they have in fact heard voices on that black box, but they didn't go into detail about what they heard. >> reporter: or any kind of scenario what may have happened. and a former ntsb official items us he's surprised. if you listen to the recording, you get a pretty good sense of what happens. maybe another 24 hours before they release anymore data. but what's amazing, as you look at the mangled mess

and in the german town of haltern, at this school an unimaginable heartbreak. students and their teachers returning home after an exchange program, and now they're all gone. today, their town mayor could only say, "it is pretty much the worst thing you can imagine." so now the investigation begins and they have already recovered one of the black boxes from that airbus a-320. aviation experts in paris will now scour the data on it looking for any clues to find out what went so wrong with this flight. david? >> terry moran, leading us off tonight live from germany. terry, thank you. >>> and tonight, an urgent search for answers is now under way. and abc's david kerley who covers aviation for us on the speed of the descent, and what it might reveal. and just when that radar signal disappeared. >> reporter: the mystery -- the question tonight -- what happened just after this airbus a-320 reached cruising altitude. a handful of possibilities are top of mind for investigators, given that it was just one minute after reaching 38,000 feet that the jetliner nosed down d

kris van cleave, cbs news haltern, germany. >>> ministers from six countries trying to strike a nuclear deal with iran are meeting with foreign minister today. secretary of state john kerry is attending the meeting in switzerland. the deadline for reaching an agreement is tomorrow but both political and technical issues remain. mark albert has more. good morning, mark. >> good morning. it's looming large. while officials involved with the talks this weekend said the country had agreed to send it to russia, one of tehran's negotiators reportedly denied such an agreement. with a deadline less than 48 hours away to reach agreement on the framework of an iran nuclear deal, secretary of state john kerry is in switzerland where leaders from iran the u.s. and five world powersremain locked in intense negotiations. >> if we're going to get this done iran has to take a deep breath and make some tough decisions. >> reporter: they want them to keep provisions that would prevent the country from getting a nuclear weapon for at least a decade. in return they're seeking immediate relief from cripplin

and the sense of shock in haltern is mirrored in the newspapers were germany. 150 dead air bus crash in the apps. moving on. shock. moving on to another, which says pretty much the same. 150 dead. and a local newspaper, which repeats 150 dead in the airbus crash, and refers to the town being in a state of shock, and hundreds laid flowers and tributes here at the school. we understand that the children are inside now, and there'll be a meeting with teachers in about an hour or so. later on today we'll hear from the mayor of the town and also the principal of the school will be speaking from a news conference, giving us an update of what they heard or know about the investigation, and what is being going on. as you heard angela merkel will be in france with president francis hollande at the crash site to see what has happened. nothing sums up what people feel here more than to say shock and horror. >> right. we'll turn to yemen. there are reports that neighbouring saudi arabia are massing troops on the border. they are worried about saudi arabia, who are backed by their great regional

the town of haltern in germany has been hit hard. 16 teenagers and their teachers from a local school were on the plane, returning from a spanish language exchange programme. a community changed forever in a sudden moment of tragedy. >> well as i mentioned there, a flight recorder box has been recovered, and it's the one that record the voices of the pilots and also the ambient sound in the cockpit. that is something that investigators are pinning their hopes on in terms of actually trying to peace together an idea of what happened in the moments directly before contact was lost between the pilot and air traffic control. we hope that we get more details about that. the lead investigator on the ground in the alps is due in the next half hour or so. >> thank you, crossing to you then. jacky rowland reporting. >> to bring you breaking news. we are getting out of yemen. this is according to houthi television, who is saying that the president abd-rabbu mansour hadi has now left his palace in aden, and his fate is in fact unknown. also, they are announcing that his defence minister has been

to the sadness hanging over -- a dramatic backdrop to the sadness hanging over the germantown of halternd white condolences, hundreds of candles, flowers and messages surrounding pictures showing smiling faces of young lives lost too soon. >> people keep coming to the school to reflect on the lives this community has lost mourning in silence. one woman lit a candle and asked out loud why? this is new video of a teenage andreas lubitz flying a glider when he was 17. investigators believe the co- pilot intentionally crashed the airbus a320 killing himself and 149 others tuesday. his motive remains unknown. german tabloids claim the captain could be heard trying to break down the locked cockpit door shouting open the damn door! some reports say antidepressants were found in lubitz's home and he saw the treatment for a detached retina, medical issues he apparently hid from the airline. >> really sad. >> reporter: 12-year-old julius hinrich's father brought him and his three siblings to the school. they laid flowers at the memorial. >> the people are sad because there are many friends of they

everyone is in total shock says a mourner in the germantown of haltern which lost 16 high schoolers and teachers. the german wing aircraft took off for barcelona after 10:00 a.m. tuesday on a two hour flight to duesseldorf. on board 150 people including two babies and six crew members. the airbus a320 had just reached cruising altitude of 38,000 feet when suddenly it starts a steep department local witnesses saw the plane on the way down. then. [speaking foreign language] >> the interpreter: we heard a very loud sound like dynamite says this woman. aviation experts believe the quick descent was intentional because of some type of emergency but why there was no distress call is puzzling. >> normally when you start an emergency descent and turn off course as they did you're coming into on going traffic and step number one is to call air traffic control. >> reporter: this morning officials believe this was what horrific accident saying highjacking or terrorism is unlikely. the airbus a320 is a plane with a good safety record. there are more than 6,000 of them in service today. the plane th

this is one of the towns most hard hit by the disaster. 16 high school students from haltern in westernt was very close to a lot of students on the plane. i want to listen in to what she told me. >> i knew all of them. they were all in my grade and we were very close. we already planned things for the future what we were going to do when they returned from their trip so -- and it's very hard to believe that we cannot do that. >> so, alisyn as you can see, these were young people who were making plans, very excited about their future. that's one of the reasons why this town why this whole community is so devastated. i was able to speak to that young lady's mother. she said right now she's, of course very much in a state of shock. she said she breaks down into tears every time she thinks about what happened. she said at this point in time she sees it as her mission to try and speak to the parents of the children who perished and try to comfort them these very difficult moments, guys. >> fred, i would imagine that grief and shock replicated in 15 nations around the globe. 15 nations with p

the town of haltern in germany has been hit hard. 16 teenagers and their teachers from a local school were on the plane, returning from a spanish language exchange programme. one community changed forever in a sudden moment of tragedy. >> bad weather is threatening to further hamper who is already a difficult search operation. heavy rain and strong winds are forecast, and possibly snow. the search is due to resume at first light >>> german chancellor angela merkel will travel to the crash site. at least 16 were students on an exchange programme. we go to the airport with germany's reaction. >> as reports filtered in of the disaster involving the germanwings flight from barcelona to duseldorf there was concerns at the airline, community and popular level, in a community in a town not far from here where local family were concerned because a school had sent 16, 16-year-olds, with two teachers to spain with a week-long visit. it's been confirmed that those pupils, those students and their teachers were indeed on board the plane. the school has closed for lessons. there'll be no lessons,

news. 67 germans were on board including 16 high school students and two teachers from the town of haltern. its mayor was emotional as he discussed the loss. >> translator: i can assure all of you without a doubt that this is the worst day in the history of our city. >> reporter: friends and family of the 45 spaniards believed to be on the flight headed to the barcelona airport to receive updates. >> translator: we will do all possible to help the families and give them all our support and attention. >> reporter: rescuers at the crash scene said wreckage from the plane was strewn across the mountain. a spokesperson for lufthansa said it's too early to say what caused the crash. >> for now it's an accident. there's nothing more we can say right now. everything else would be speculation. >> reporter: now that a black box has been recovered, investigators will examine it to see if there is any sign of what caused the plane to go down. barry arent, nbc news. >> we hope you'll stay with us for updates out of france throughout the hour on news4 and on your phone with our nbc washington app. on t

and the community that they're from is place called haltern. it's north from where i am. out today, nominated a spokesperson the mayor of the town he gave a press conference where he had a lot of trouble holding it together because the entire town there is really in a state of mourning. there's flowers that are being laid down in front of that school. there are people who are obviously coming by, lighting candles. it's something that has gripped that entire community, and it's really only just some of the many tragic things that we're finding out. there's also two opera singers who were also on the flight. one of them was traveling with her small baby. one of two babies who was killed on that flight. the more we piece together the identities of those who were killed more of the magnitude of what happened on that flight becomes real and it has plunge that country, germany, into a state of shock tonight, erin. >> a state of shock. each one of those stories shows you how significant every single human life is. thank you so much fred. >>> next, ted cruz. you know he's called

germany including 16 students and two teachers from the same high school in the small germantown of haltern. the school's principal says nothing will be the way that it was at our school anymore. right now french and german officials say terrorism or foul play are unlikely to be behind the crash. >>> breaking news out of iraq, a source tells the associated press u.s. military forces have launch ed airstrikes over tikrit in support of a stalled iraqi ground offensive to retake that city from isis. the source says the iraqi government requested the help from the u.s. >>> we've got a yellow alert in place for tomorrow. our first alert meteorologist erica grow is joining us now. >> we might have thunderstorms at this time tomorrow. taking a look at our look ahead here, we will see those thunderstorms pushing toward us. the question will be whether they maintain their intense is i for that evening commute. -- intensity for that evening commute. the timing will be essential to see if we get those thunderstorms or not. it is definitely a yellow alert day tomorrow. that thunderstorm activity even i

a place called haltern. a small place. 37,000 people live there.hey nominated the mayor of the town to speak there because speak at the school didn't want much of the media attention. he said it was an absolutely devastating time for that town. the hardest that he'd ever witnessed and of course everybody there in an absolute state of shock. you could see how people were laying down flowers in front of the school lighting candles and people breaking out into tears again and again. that's certainly something that happened in a lot of places in germany today and especially here around the dusseldorf area. we've been talking about the two op ray opera singers killed and the two infants. >> terrible. thank you, frederik pleitgen for reporting. people on the board include two claimed opera singers, wrapped up a series of performances in barcelona. they were on their way home. briac, has been affiliated since 1996. he performed on stages all over the world. louis fernando piedra is colleague and friend. joins me tonight. i'm so sorry for your loss. >> it

ones. 67 germans were on board including 16 high school students and two teachers from the town of halternwas emotional as he discussed the loss. >> translator: i can assure all of you without a doubt that this is the worst day in the history of our city. >> reporter: friends and family of the 45 spaniards believed to be on the flight headed to the barcelona airport to receive updates. >> translator: we will do all possible to help the families and give them all our support and attention. >> reporter: rescuers at the crash scene said wreckage from the plane was strewn across the mountain. a spokesperson for lew loout tan is a said it's too early to say what caused the crash. >> for now it's an accident. there's nothing more we can say right now. everything else would be speculation. >> reporter: now that a black box has been recovered, investigators will examine it to see if there is any sign of what caused the plane to go down. barry arent, nbc news. >>> "empire" tv star and d.c. native ha ra-- taraji p. henson says her son won't go to usc because he was racially profiled there. police st

joining me from the school of the town of haltern outside of dusseldorf is katie.stand other school kids have been gathering as they learn of the news. >> reporter: we are 45 minutes outside of dusseldorf at the high school and we are learning the 16 kids were 10th graders, 16 and 17-year-olds on the plane with two teachers. they were in barcelona for a week in the exchange ploe gram learning about the cult -- program learning about the culture and language. one girl had a cousin on board an the family is in a state of shock. they were all very excited to go to spain and very excited to come home and see family and friends and to hear this news was just completely devastating. right out side of the school a pretty decent growing memorial of candles is being lit on the school steps. you have hundreds of people that have come out to say their prayers and remember those who they've lost. but right now, it is just very confusing time for the students because they don't -- they can't totally wrap their mind around what happened. they had seen reports and didn't think it

germany including 16 students and two teachers from the same high school in the small germantown of haltern says nothing will be the way it was at our school anymore. tina kraus, cbs news, seyne-les- alpes, france. >>> an american soldier who walked away from his post in afghanistan has been charged with desertion. bowe bergdahl deserted in 2009 after expressing misgivings about the u.s. role in afghanistan's war. he was captured by the taliban. spent five years as a hostage before being released as part of a prisoner exchange. bergdahl faces a maximum sentence of life in prison although less serious penalties including a dishonorable discharge are also a possibility. >>> still ahead, one carmaker is taking it up a notch. the high wire stunt for its brand-new wheels. >> plus, a cup and some string maybe a hammer, how one woman has made it her mission to bring these simple learning tools into the classroom. (scal): good day, m'lady! i am sir-can-a-lot, here to save you from another breakfast bore. wake up those eggs with glorious spam! see what spam can! do... at spam.com >>> it doesn't get

the town of haltern in germany has been hit hard. 16 teenagers and their teachers from a local school were on the plane, returning from a spanish language exchange programme. a community changed forever in a sudden moment of tragedy >>> now the investigation begins in earnest in what is a truly pan-european tragedy, and presumably first off centring on the contents of the black box that they managed to recover. >> yes, they retrieved that from the crash site early in the search operations. normally there are two flight recorders, and the one that they have found is the one that records the voices of the pilots in the cockpit, and the surrounding sound and french officials say they are particularly interested in the recordings between 10:30 and 10:31:00a.m. local time on tuesday, the final minute before the plane went silent. and then of course the plane went into that 8 minute dissent before hitting the mountainside. they think the last minute could be crucial in providing them with information about what caused the crash. at this stage they are not ruling out any possession, it's too

travel to that crash site. 16 students and 2 teachers on the flight were returning to the town of halterner a week in an exchange in spain. now that town is in mourning. cnn's rosie tompkins joins us from dusseldorf. people from all walks of life on that flight. this was a budget airline. so many of them in europe over the past decade allowing people to take trips they might not otherwise have been able to take. >> reporter: yes, christine. a very popular airline as well especially for german holidaymakers going to mediterranean cities and in this case tragically for this group of school students that you mentioned that were in spain on this foreign language exchange experience flying home to return to their families with their two teachers. all of them died in the crash with the two teachers. just tragic news for this town which is just 80 kilometers north of where i am now at the airport. the mayor of the town appeared in public yesterday. he was visibly moved, very very emotional, talking about the impact on the town and shock felt all across the town. also other names emerging like th

among those presumed dead three americans and a school group from the german city of haltern. >>> wellco's fort mason for its biggest developers conference ever. but as abc 7 news reporter jonathan bloom found out, the app getting all the attention on day one wasn't the facebook app at all. >> hey everyone. >> reporter: facebook's mark zuckerberg took the stage for an audience from all over including this guy from canada. >> ba. >> reporter: his app bit strips makes cartoons starring you. now there's bitmoji. >> it basically turns you into your own personal emoji. >> reporter: it has its own app but he's more excited about this. >> today we're introducing messenger platform. >> reporter: you know that app facebook forced you to download by removing chat from its regular app. >> i think now you can start to see why they did it. >> reporter: facebook's working with developers like ba to put their app inside their messenger. >> they're realizing that communication now is so much more than just text. >> reporter: besides bitmoji, there's jibjab. >> put your face in it your friend's face in

the small town of haltern, a suburb to the north of dusseldorf and the high school alone they lost 18 people. 16 students and two teachers. most of the students were girls. they are 15 and 16-year-olds in the 10th grade. they had gone to barcelona for a school spanish exchange program and there just for a week and for many it was really supposed to be the highlight of their year. the school does this every few years and sometimes the spanish kids come from germany and other times they go to spain and it is supposed to be the highlight of their year and it ended in tragedy. i spoke with one student who said the school feels empty without the kids. there is about a thousand kids in the entire school so the loss of 16 of them is certainly felt deeply. even if they didn't know the kids personally, the oeshl students would see -- the other students would see them in the hall and so everyone in the school is feeling this and germany itself feeling this loss very hard as most of the victims were from this country. back to you. >> nbc katy tur in germany for us. >>> to help understand more of