is sending troops to chad to help search for hundreds of kidnapped school girls in neighboring nigeria, helping with intelligence, surveillance and aircraft searches over the northern region of the country, also keeping a close eye on a town where it's believed the girls were abducted by boko haram. the armed rebel group is suspected in a series of recent deadly attacks on nearby villages. protestor calls on the government to take action. what more can you tell us? >> the protests have been organized by the bring back our girls campaign. campaigners who have been meeting every single day for the last days since the girls have been missing with the hope that they will be rescued now are getting more and more i am patient with the government rescue mission which they say has taken a long time. this afternoon, they are going to march to the president's office to show their anger and show solidarity with the parents of the girls. >> with the spike in attacks we've seen in recent weeks, is the nigerian government losing control to boko haram? is that the perception there on the ground? >> i

their mission, fly an unmanned drone over neighboring nigeria in a desperate search for those missing girls. all the americans are combat armed for protection, but officials here stress they will not be involved in any combat operations or even any possible rescue missions in nigeria. the predator at another u.s. drone, the global hawk, have been flying surveillance missions over the dense jungles of nigeria since last week but have so far found no signs of the missing girls. defense officials tell us that the terrorist group holding the girls, boko haram, has now split them up into many smaller groups and scattered them throughout the jungle. and in a somewhat somber assessment tonight, one senior defense official tells us, we have no clear idea where these girls are, lester. >> all right, jim miklaszewski at the pentagon, thanks. >>> we're keeping a close eye on severe weather as a giant system moves across the country tonight. a tornado touched down near the airport in denver. large hail blanketing much of the state of colorado. our partners at the weather channel report the bigges

military to chad to help find more than 200 school girls kidnapped by terrorists last month in neighboring nigeriamartin at the pentagon has learned the details. >> reporter: 80 airmen have begun flying unarmed, predator drones to aid in the search for the girls. operating out of chad, they will be right across the border from the area in northeastern nigeria where the girls are believed to be. the predator drones are in addition to the global hawk drones which have been flying much longer distances from a base in niger. the global hawk flies at an altitude of 60,000 feet and covers as much as 40,000 square miles in a single mission. the predator flies much lower, about 20,000 feet, and can be used to zero in on specific areas spotted by the global hawk. adding the predators will improve the chances of finding the girls, but it's also a sign that so far, the search has come up empty. scott. >> pelley: david martin at the pentagon near reagan national airport, david, thank you very much. the n.f.l. has had little to say about the lawsuit filed yesterday by hundreds of former players who claim that

says some of the 80 american drops are now in chad to help look for 300 kidnapped girls in neighboring nigeria. it's a reaction to more pressure here at home on president obama to help find those girls. national security correspondent jennifer griffin tells us members of both parties are pushing hard. >> reporter: the leader of the nigerian terror group that kidnapped more than 300 school girls last month is now the target of international sanctions. the u.n. security council added boko haram to a list of al qaeda-linked organizations today, subjecting it to an arms embargo and freezing assets. until now, neither republicans nor democrats have been satisfied with u.s.e esfforts t find the girls and punish the terrorists. >> i don't see why once we get these girls free i'm going to tell you for me i want drones, i want something because they don't belong on this earth. >> reporter: the president informed congress that he thorsed a droep and up to 80 u.s. air force personnel to leave yesterday for neighboring chad. most of the u.s. team is now on the ground preparing to operate the unmanned, una

how realistic is separation between nigeria and the neighbors in the fight against boko haram? >> reporter: >> reporterwell, it's been quite difficult before now for any cooperation to take place between nigeria and its neighbors and particularly between kameroon and nigeria. they enjoy diplomatic relationships but we know boko haram have used the porous borders there, exclusively inhabited by muslims and is seen where boko haram usually operates in. they have gone across the border whenever they are being pursued by the nigerian army and to pick up supplies and the statement that was given in paris by the president of chad and kameroon as well as nigera. however, in the past few hours, nigerians have been reacting and they are saying they will come in with help, but the work of finishing boko haram from nigeria needs to be done by nigeria's forces and they say let's not forget boko haram has been just a fair distribution and, also, unemployment. they say these issues need to be resolved before we can talk about, you know, finishing boko haram forever. >> okay. we will leave it

not just, its goal is to destabilize northern nigeria, but also all of nigeria neighboring countries. haveousands of civilians been killed in northern nigeria as the insurgents have left a trail of death and destruction. idrissspoke traveling in nigeria. we asked how big the threat is. high, threat is very especially in northern nigeria. it is more in the northeast of nigeria. the fear is still among many people of boko haram a talks. -- attacks. deadly attacks. is sendingattack signals to a lot of people about the fear of what will happen to their children. what could be the outcome? that is fear among people of what could be the next attack. there, theve seen nigerian president has been taking part in a nine ted terrorism -- antiterrorism summit. if they want boko haram to to come and area, give [indiscernible] they are from france. it will its influence, -- , it should be reviewed among the leaders of these countries. if that is done, there could be an impact. now, on a very different note, we will go to sports. a day of deciders for football teams around europe. facing arsenal in

nigeria. president obama told congress today that 80 troops are being deployed to neighboring chad. 'll help with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights over northern nigeria. the islamist group boko haram abducted the girls last month, and today, its fighters killed 48 people in three northern villages. yesterday, bombings in central nigeria killed 118 people. >> woodruff: there was heavy new fighting in libya today, amid fears of growing chaos. the combat came near a main camp and military barracks outside tripoli. this morning, fires were still burning from midnight rocket attacks that killed two people. about 200 people were evacuated from the area. it was unclear who was involved in the fighting, but a renegade general, khalifa hifter, has launched a campaign against islamist influence in libya. >> ifill: democrats in the house of representatives have decided to join a new investigation of the attack on u.s. diplomats in benghazi, libya. four americans, including the u.s. ambassador, were killed there in 2012. now, a republican-led select committee will investigat

>> stephanie gosk in cameroon, neighboring nigeria. now to abuja, where bill nealy has arrived. bill, i understand that family members have screened the video of the girls, and they have identified a number of the girls who were taken by boko haram. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, with the screening last night in the state capital, there were very touching scenes as relatives and parents, and friends of the missing girls, and indeed, some girls who themselves had escaped from the kidnapping all watched this video. you can only imagine what was going through their minds. we saw girls walking up to the screen and pointing out various friends. a father pointing at his daughter. a mother wiping away her tears. they described their feelings, which were a mixture, of course, of relief that their children were still alive, but anger. and also, bewilderment at the clothes they were dressed in. there was a lot of people just saying, i almost didn't recognize my daughter. and indeed, some people there couldn't recognize their children because they're dressed in these hijabs with

france is crucial to the implementation and brings together former colleagues that are neighbors of nigeria, particularly camerron which doesn't have a good diplomatic relationship with nigeria. people fear the threat would not accident happen as long as the government does not deal with the core issues. this include grinding poverty, unemployment and the unfair distribution of the country's wealth. >> the husband of a pregnant sudanese woman who has been sentenced to death says he will appeal that ruling. she was convicted of abandoning muslim and marrying a christian. the judge rules she should be hanged to death. her husband says he is an american citizen but says he hasn't received any help whatsoever from the u.s. government. >> considering i am an american citizens, i am disappointed with the american embassy was position at the whole case. at the start of the issue, i reported it to them. they didn't take much interest. they came late. they intervened when they saw it was getting press attention, but the entintervention was late. >> the woman was raised an orthodox christian because

it's very hard to actually believe what is coming from the neighbors of nigeria. there have been clashes between the niger authorities and suspected members of boko haram. that's an indication members of boko haram are crossing into neighboring countries. >> thank you very much, indeed. and editor of the newspaper premium times, thank you to you as well. >>> a remind wesh people all over the world have been taking part in a social media campaign to highlight the story of those abducted nigerian girls. you can go to our facebook page at facebook.com/bbcworldnews. to see some of the images people have been posting using the # bringbackour, girls. british schoolgirl yousafzai among those posting. if you have a photo to share send it directly to our facebook page in the comments section or as a message as well. >>> you're watching "gmt" on bbc world news. let's go to aaron. >> let's go over to aaron. i've got big news from a very big company that's got the tech world abuzz once again. i'll explain. thanks very much, tim. hello, there. actually, in fact, it's set to be,

from their homes, challenged the government's authority and kidnapped westerners in both nigeria and neighboring has killed over 1,000 people. making nigeria's struggle against this group one of the deadliest conflicts in africa today. in addition to terrorizing the capital and other cities, boko haram attacks villages and military installations. the abductions in chibok fit into a larger pattern of violence. throughout northeastern nigeria, teachers and students have learned to fear the men who come in the night to kill young men and teachers and steal away young women. some of the young women from chibok daringly escaped their captors, but many more remain prisonerses of boko haram's leader, abubakar shekau and his followers. this tragic kidnapping calls us to redouble our efforts to defeat a malicious terrorist organization that has troubled nigeria for more than a decade. world leaders including president obama have pledged their full support to the government and people of nigeria as they seek to safely recover and assist these courageous young women. we acted swiftly to carry out the presi

to wage war against the islamist group boko haram the meeting was called to help countries neighboring nigeria coordinate actions and share intelligence to fight the militant group the need for cooperation came after the islamist rebels kidnapped schoolgirls for a trade. state of emergency has been declared in parts of bosnia and serbia after the countries experienced their heaviest rainfall in one hundred years flooding has already claimed at least twenty five lives army helicopters are being used right now to rescue thousands of people serbian authorities are asking residents also to donate boats to the government as the weather is only expected to get worse. theater might not be everyone's priority during an economic crisis but spain's actors are making sure the show goes on albeit in a new form in times of hardship they're trying to increase the appeal of their plays by shrinking them much as i can explain. this a gritty side street off madrid story. is home to both high culture and low. a place where spain's financial crisis has literally driven the city's theater scene underground. behin

from their homes, challenged the government's authority and kidnapped westerners in both nigeria and neighboring cameroon. since january 1st, boko haram has killed over 1,000 people. making nigeria's struggle against this group one of the deadliest conflicts in africa today. in addition to terrorizing the capital and other cities, boko haram attacks villages and military installations. the abductions in chibok fit into a larger pattern of violence. throughout northeastern nigeria, teachers and students have learned to fear the men who come in the night to kill young men and teachers and steal away young women. some of the young women from chibok daringly escaped their captors, but many more remain prisonerses of boko haram's leader, abubakar shekau and his followers. this tragic kidnapping calls us to redouble our efforts to defeat a malicious terrorist organization that has troubled nigeria for more than a decade. world leaders including president obama have pledged their full support to the government and people of nigeria as they seek to safely recover and assist these courageous young women.

to wage war against the islamist group boko haram the meeting was called to help countries neighboring nigeria coordinate actions and share intelligence to fight the militant group the need for cooperation came after the islamist rebels kidnapped schoolgirls and for trade. a state of emergency has been declared in parts of bosnia and serbia after the country's experienced of their heaviest rainfall in one hundred years flooding has already claimed at least twenty lives. army helicopters are being used to rescue thousands of people serbian authorities are asking residents to donate boats to the government as the weather is expected to get worse. hundreds of supporters of a far right group in england have marched on the streets of the u.k. city of newcastle they held banners and st george's flags and chanted the march has reportedly taken place on residential areas as well despite police efforts to reroute the demonstration. now theatre might not be everyone's priority during an economic crisis but spain's actors are making sure the show goes on albeit in a new form in times of hardship they are

. >> 80 service members of being sent to nigeria's neighbor to support intelligence and surveillance operation. the white house says the deployment is not based on any new leads. kidnapped more than 270 girls from the school 37 days ago. has not been seen since. u.s. officials said they believe the militants moved to girls and smaller groups by now. a remote-control deep sea submarine resume its search for the missing passenger jet. centered in an area of the indian ocean were much as picked up electronic signals. the chinese survey ship will map the ocean floor. senator is among 50 u.s. senators putting pressure on the nfl to support a name change for the washington redskins. a group of democrats and independents senators have sent a letter to the commissioner the letter urges them to put pressure on dan snyder to change a name that many half felt it is offensive to native americans. the is resisted a name change. he said most americans and football fans want to keep the team's name. >> 6 people are free after they're arrested for making a music video. >> this video was made in iran

the troops are headed to nigeria's neighbor, the country of chad. the president said the mission is mainly surveillance support through the use of drones. the girls were kidnapped by the militant group boko haram last month. >>> president obama responded with outrage to the growing scandal at va hospitals and said those found guilty will be had held accountable. >> if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and i will not tolerate it. period. >> president obama stood by his secretary of veterans affairs eric shinseki for now at least. he ordered shinseki to launch a full scale investigation into allegations some va health facilities have been cooking the books and keeping secret waiting lists. sometimes with deadly consequences. >> i said it to him today. i want to see, you know, what the results of these reports are and there is going to be accountability. >> let's move over to weather. our national forecast, nbc's bill karins joining us. we have colorado to talk about. we have arizona to talk about. >> the fire.

uk and france, plus nigeria's neighbors say they're willing to help. this meeting is about how they do that. the west wants a framework for sharing intelligence, that's so far been limited. because of concerns, boko haram sympathizers have penetrated nigeria's military and intelligence ranks and may pass on any crucial information. it's clear the u.s. and western allies don't fully trust the nigerians to do this properly. there's suspicion from the nigerians about what the u.s. is doing here. all of that must be overcome if these girls are to be found. >> hamish macdonald on the story every step of the way. thank you. >>> back here at home and to an investigation in boston after a horrific accident at the famed fenway park, a young woman falling into an elevator shaft, plunging several stories and landing on top of the elevator car far below. abc's ron claiborne tonight. >> reporter: a terrifying night in boston's fenway park, a 22-year-old woman plunges two stories down an elevator shaft after last night's red sox game against the detroit tigers. >> th

back to the situation with the letter, they will be sending 80 service members to chad, which neighbors nigeriagotten permission from chad to use a predator drone as our pentagon correspondent barbara starr was telling me this news had just broken, and as she was telling me this classic impromptu meeting, where the u.s. air force would be helping work this drone. 40 on the ground. and so that is the news. the question is why announce this today? we don't know that yet. but what we can find out is zane asher, joining me. this news has just broken, have you gotten any kind of reaction from nigerians? >> reporter: well, not really, brooke, this news has just broken as you mentioned, 80 members of u.s. armed forces now working towards chad to as is the -- to assist in finding these missing girls. the northeastern border that borders chad, they are not well defined. in fact, boko haram militants have been known to slip in and out of cameroon to buy weapons. so it is crucial with the assisting of this. the president mentioned he had 20,000 troops in the area, in northeastern nigeria. but in order for

he's deployed approximately 80 military personnel to chad, nigeria's neighbor. they'll support the operation of reconnaissance aircraft. boko haram militants grabbed the girls last month. the u.s., britain and france have been providing expertise and equipment to help with the search. at the same time, nigerian authorities have been responding to security threats on other fronts. they blame boko haram for back to back bombings this week in the central city of jos. at least 118 people died. dozens were wounded. >> my body really, really hurts. >> reporter: the militants are also suspected of killing dozens of people in attacks on at least two northern villages near chibok. nigerians have grown tired of the group's five-year-long fight to create an islamic state. they say security forces are failing to do their job. >> you know, police and army checkpoints everywhere. and yet, you know, you hear increase of bombing, kidnapping. >> reporter: some analysts say that's because the military has been compromised. >> the nigerian military itself is politicized. the niger

the nigerians and the nations neighboring nigeria all have very good and sophisticated human intelligence networks, and i'm certain that those have been activated and they're seeking to get all the information they can. but technical intelligence. overhead surveillance, persistent collection, signals intelligence and the analysis of that all source information is something that the united states and others are quite good at and i suspect we're probably helping them in that regard. >> i want to pivot here and talk to you about benghazi. i'm sure you're aware of the new panel that was convened this week to dig deeper into what happened the night in 2012 when you were in charge there in africa. i know you've testified. what questions are left to be answered that have not been -- that have not been answered yet or are there any? >> i think first and foremost, we should remember that night that four brave americans were killed. for them and for their families, the nation should remain eternally grateful. with regard to the military aspect of the events in benghazi, i think the chairman of the

nigeria's government. at a meeting with neighboring afghan leaders, nigeria's president says he's totally committed to finding the kidnapped girls. >> presently, nigeria has 20,000 troops in this part of the country. this is not the part of the country where we have these terrorists. we have been looking for militants with aircrafts and looking at intelligence. this has been added to by frercfrench and u.s. countries. >> she sat down with two informants who worked inside the terrorist group. you're going to want to see this. the voices have been altered to protect their identities. >> reporter: we meet in a safehouse. just speaking to us could cost them their lives, already at risk. >> this is the only way our children will have a future. >> reporter: mohammad and osama, not these two men's real names, are government informants on the terrorist group boko haram. they have seen the group's influence spread. >> they take you once you move to their training camp that is the end, you won't come back again. >> reporter: recruiting from the poor and drawing in the uneducated, trained in explosives. boko haram are m

nigeria's neighbors have agreed to share intelligence and monster the borders.rism researcher, explained how boko haram has come to power in the region, and if the plan to stop it can actually work in tonight's first person report. >> the idea that integrated counter terrorism strategy coordinated by the economic community of the west african states is really a good idea. terrorism in the region is continuously becoming more transnational in nature. however, a wider approach will have to be followed. they need to address the social economic disparities. the government's ability to deliver services needs to get way better. and maintaining law and order and especially border control here. success relies on the dissatisfaction of the people on the government to deliver the simplest of services. the view by the locals, is not so much a yes for the terrorist organization, but a vote of no confidence for the government. we have a government being accused of neglect. the safe havens abound in the north. boko haram has networks of informants that enable them to know whe

>> reporter: well, when it comes to nigeria's neighbors, particularly cameroon, it's not the first time that an attack on the base of the chinese workers that one person wag killed and ten kidnapped. last month they killed two people and in february they attacked a place in north cameroon where they abducted orchiorkidnapped a french famil. when it comes to boko haram's relationships with al-qaeda, it does not mean that it goes to the leadership of al-qaeda, no, just the local affiliate of al-qaeda. for instance, al-qaeda where they have their base in mali. it's not that clear, but you know very well that the president jonathan is facing a lot of pressure at home and abroad with britain and the united states criticizing the way his government has reacted to the kidnapping of the girls. any way they can wiggle out of the situation is what they're going to do on aligning boko haram with al-qaeda as one of them. >> thank you very much for that. rescue operations are officially over where hundreds of workers were killed. tensions across the country are running high. anger grows over the dis

haram not only presents to nigeria, but i think that one of the things that's very important to take away from this, that this is becoming a regional problem and the neighbors have to get involved and think about this as a regional problem and not just a nigeria problem and that is one of the main aspects that have come out of the discussions that i've heard since i've been here. >> as you know, the president there has been criticized not just by the parents of the kidnapped girl, but some world leaders, lots of folks in this country who accuse him of not doing enough to find them. i want to get your reaction to something secretary of state hillary clinton said while she was here in new york last night. take a listen. >> the seizure of these young women by this radical extremist group boko haram is abominable, it's criminal, it's an act of terrorism and it really merits the fullest response possible, first and foremost from the government of nigeria. the government of nigeria has been, in my view, somewhat d derelict in the responsibility in protecting boys and girls, men and women in northern nigeria over the last years. >> derelict. do you agree with that

nigeria and four neighboring countries declaring total wore on the kidnappers boko haram and meeting with western allies in paris this weekend to coordinate their efforts against that terrorist group. nigeria also currently sits on the united nations security council and is expected to request sanctions be imposed on the group. that could start next week. boko haram has been holding nearly 300 of those christian schoolgirls captive since abducting them last month and claiming they converted them to islam. so, can the girls be saved? joining us now is former u.s. ambassador to the united nations john bolton and fox news contributor and senior fellow at the american enterprise institute. the issue could go to the security council this week. i mean, is that going to get these girls back? >> well, i think the sad answer is no. i don't see any problem in imposing sanctions on boko haram, but it's not like the group's leadership has a lot of money stashed away in swiss bank accounts that can be seized. i'm not sure if boko haram's leadership has bank accounts, and the idea that the sanction

to search for the girls, and boko haram is a terrorist organization not just impacting nigeria, but the neighbors like cameroon, and so they are concerned about it. but what is so amazing to the response of the hashtag bring back our girls, but it is not just countries in africa, but people all over the world te demanding a change and not just a momentary promise for change, but the ark schactually, these be rescue and returned to their family and the people of nigeria can live in prosperity and security. >> and let me bring you back in, michelle, that in the past, the government has given ransom money to the boko haram, but does it only embolden them if they get the money and release the girls, and to nicole's point that this this terrorist group has plagued many parts of africa and remain a threat to the world, because there is no border to keep the terrorism just in nigeria or the neighboring nations, and if you pay them, they don't go away. >> tamron, it is not the nigerian government who paid the hostages, and i must make clear. and i think that one of the issues involved here, you will get

to help find those kidnapped schoolgirls from nigeria. 80 service members are being sent to nigeria's neighbor, chad, to support intelligence and surveillance operations -- which includes the use of a predator drone. the white house says this deployment is not based on any new leads. boko haram kidnapped over 270- girls from their school 37 days ago. they've not been seen since. u-s officials say they believe the militants moved the girls into smaller groups by now. a house committee will investigate the terrorist attack in benghazi, libya that killed four americans in 2012, just before the presidential election. now, illinois congresswoman tammy duckworth has been chosen as one of the five *democrats who will join seven republicans on that committee. republicans say the obama administration intentionally lied about the motive for the attack, to protect obama's re- election prospects. democrats say benghazi was a tragedy, but not a conspiracy. president obama is facing new criticism, after he declared a half million acres along america's mexican border a national monument. the president's sign

we know that the nigerian president along with leaders from other west african countries, nigeria's neighbors summit in paris hosted by the french president francois hollande. and they're gathering to discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the threat posed by boko haram and other terrorist groups in west and central africa. they're gathering to discuss this brought about by this action of the mass abduction of those 200-plus girls over a month ago now. the question really is whether this will rise above being a talking shop or whether anything will emerge from this gathering. for the nigerians we've spoken to and people around the world, they will really be looking to see if a concrete plan emerges to bring those girls safe by back to their loved ones. >> isha, it appears that many other nations have offered help. there is an international awareness of the problem in nigeria. but goodluck jonathan will need to take charge and take the lead as it's happening within his borders. is the government strategy? we've had a difficult time this week knowing what the president is and is not doing. t

the french president [ inaudible ] where nigeria and its neighbors agreed on a coordinated strategy toight the armed group. france, the uk, and the united states committed more resources. but for the people who were shopping at this market, those plans may not [ inaudible ] while parliament agreed to extend a state of emergency in the north, more than a hundred people lost their lives hundreds of kilometers away. >> [ inaudible ] is in the town of yola. hamid we just heard the reports on the attack in joes. was there more than one attack? >> there was an attack yesterday and on monday. but the most recent was the one in alagorno, where 17 people have been killed according to authorities there. and locals have also confirmed that there was an attack last night, and the attackers came from the bushes. they took their [ inaudible ] and set their homes ablaze, and when they were escaping the fire, they killed 17 people. >> in the abscess of the military, and i'm supposing the military wasn't there to help, are local vigilantes trying to fight boko haram? >> well, there are reports of vigil

neighboring villages. debora patta, chibok, nigeria. >>> they plan to proceed with sunday's self-rule vote. despite calls to delay those votes from russian president vladimir putin. this morning he attended a victory day parade in moscow. victory day in russia commemorates the germans' surrender in world war ii. the government in kiev and the west consider the votes illegitimate. >>> and we may learn today if the house committee will boycott a new committee. the republican controlled house voted to launch the probe yesterday. susan mcginnis is in washington. susan, good morning. >> anne-marie, good morning. democrats are calling this a political and fund-raising ploy on the part of republicans with this becoming the eighth investigation into benghazi by this panel, but republicans say they're just not satisfied with the explanations they've heard so far. >> and the resolution is adopted. >> the republican led house voted to begin a new fact-finding mission aimed at getting to the bottom of the benghazi attack that killed four americans on september 11th, 2012. the gop argues that the white

state department said many of the girls may have been taken out of nigeria and into neighboring countries. >>> government forces in eastern ukraine are going on the offensive. they're taking on the armed separatists who've been occupying public buildings. a gun fight in the city of slavyansk left four people dead and about 30 injured. rebels shot down a military helicopter. it's a month since pro-russian activists seized government offices in the city of donetsk. they're building up their arsenals to prepare for more clashes with government forces. separatists say they will hold referendums on autonomy in two of ukraine's eastern regions on may 11th. the interim government is expected to deploy the military to prevent the poll taking place. the u.s. government has unveiled additional measures to support syria's opposition forces. they're struggling to hold on after losing battles against the government of president bashar al assad. state department spokesperson marie harf said on monday that the u.s. will grant foreign mission status to representative offices of the syrian national coalit

happen at the summit in paris is address the broader threat from boko haram affecting not just nigeria but neighboringuntries as well. >> gabriel, thanks a lot. >>> the death toll from a mine explosion in turkey is expected to reach more than 300 with 80 still trapped underground. 284 are confirmed dead. there's a press conference held for the first time since the disaster. the owner has denied any negligence. >> all of my revenues i have reinvested into my business to include the living standards of my working colleagues. and to help insure that we prevent or try to minimize any work place accidents and improve work place safety. >> we have been following developments in soma. >> the minister early this morning sent out a tweet saying 284 were confirmed dead and 18 unaccounted for. he said they'll finish with 302 dead meaning implication is that those 18 are dead. there's also a lot of confusion in the press conference about whether there were rescue chambers in the mine. at the beginning of the press conference, the mine owner said there were two. under later questions they admitted one of the chamb

nigeria three weeks ago. some escaped, but well over 200 are still missing. defense officials in neighboring cameroon tell nbc news that some have already been sold across the border. their disappearance triggered outrage across nigeria and now the outrage has gone global with women rallying in europe, washington, new york, and today in san francisco. >> what else could be more visceral? girls going to school, their boarding schooling with doing their final exams being kidnapped. >> reporter: and the issue has exploded across social media. #bringbackourgirls has gone viral. joined by hillary clinton, mary j. blige, and malala yousafzai, the pakistani student shot by the taliban. today for the first time a christian group released what it said were the names of many of the missing girls. nigeria's government seems powerless to take on the militants who have been terrorizing the country since 2009, killing thousands. >> they operate like their own country within a country. and they do not care. and they have more power in some ways than the government at this point. >> reporter: and the boko h

the assault comes after nigeria and neighbors agreed to coordinate action against the group we hear morewerful car bomb. not much left of the vehicle or engine. a lot of injured people were taken off to hospitals in the area. as you say, boko haram has hit the area before. car bombs are a popular choice of use of force by the boko haram fighters, the islamist militant group. it had been quiet there over a year. there had been a fairly strong security presence there, vigilante groups and self-defense groups had set up following other attacks. at beginning of january 2012, more than 150 were killed in a series of attacks across the country. they have seen terrible bombings before, but people will be very worried now. they thought the city was once again safe. >> any update on the fate of those missing girls? generally the international response and nigerian government response? >> not a word on whether there's been any progress on locating them. only the latest information of course is the british surveillance aircraft is on its way to the region based out of the capital. over the next few

the islamist kidnappers boko haram, now seen as al qaeda affiliates and not just by nigeria, but also its neighboringountries, with all their porous borders. >> when they cross the borders into our communities, and run back to cameroon, internationally, nigerian military cannot move into cameroon except you take special permissi permission. there's no room for you to take permission to enter. >> there was an acknowledgement too that the boko haram poses a threat to the west. this week a key figure arrested in sudan was educated in wales. he's suspected of organizing bomb attacks in nigeria and had been monitored at times by british security services. but it's the face of the schoolgirls that matters the most. and nigeria will be judged -- >>> turkish rescue workers today retrieved the bodies of the last two men killed in the mine fire earlier this week. the death toll is 301. 485 people survived the country's worst industrial disaster. the incident has sparked demonstrations across the country over the lack of safety regulations. >>> a federal judge in washington has halted the u.s. military's force

maybe some of them have been taken across the border and i think that we need to work with the neighbors of nigeria, cameroon, chad, any injury to work with their intelligence services to see what they can do to help identify where these girls might be if they are in their countries with that you're right, there's a lot of technology that can be used to help in this situation. i that those are the resources that the united government has offered. the united kingdom has offered resores, china has offered resources, so a lot of technology i think is going to be brought to bare to better not only surveil the border areas, but better increase their check points. i was in the north on saturday, and sunday of this last week, and there are a lot of things that i noticed with my security hat on that maybe they could do better in terms of using technology to check vehicles, to check for bomb detection and to use some of the new technology at some of these very, very sensitive check points. i think these things are very, very important and partners like the u.s. are bringing these materials to bear and to as

nigeria and cameroon, but as time went on that these girls might actually be ferried out of nigeria into neighboring cameroon or chad. residents on the ground have told us they've seen convoys filled with young girls and what they say are militants on a road leading out of nigeria and into cameroon. so with the comments by the state department today and the despicable video by the supposed leader saying what he is planning to do with these girls is to sell them, it looks like the worst fears may have been realized, anderson. >> peter, this is interesting. it reminds me about what we saw in iraq with al qaeda leading to terror groups. when they got in control of territory they basically alienated people very rapidly. this is the kind of thing that would hopefully turn people against a group like this. >> yeah, you would hope so. and certainly, you know, this group originated as a group called the nigerian taliban. that turned out to be a problem for al qaeda and iraq. the population rose up, and then in combination with the u.s. military, attacked al qaeda in iraq. but that isn't happening right now

as has been demonstrated recently boko haram uses the lightly controlled orders between nigeria and its neighbors for cross-border operations. last week france hosted a very timely summit at which heads of states from nigeria chad cameron deneen along with the u.s. and u.k. sought to improve regional collaboration. for our part dod and the department of state are working closely together on a proposal to enhance border security along nigeria's borders with chad may share and cameroon to counter the threat posed by boko haram. the concept is to build border security capacity and promote at our corp. among security forces in each country with the aim of reducing boko haram's operation space and safe havens. as committed as u.s. is to supporting nigeria and returning safely nigeria's fight is a very challenging case. in the face of an even more sophisticated threat nigeria security forces have been greatly challenged by boko haram's tactics. also troubling has been a has-been the heavy-handed approaches by security forces during observations. our approach is to risk further alienating local populati

neighbors my gear yeah what is the latest for these kidnapped girls? have they located them? >> reporter: no, they haven't, alex. there's growing concern that the girls have been split up and taken out of nigeriaoring chad, my gear or here in cameroon making it harder to find them. they're concerned about a border that's 2,000 miles long making it 100 miles longer than the u.s./mexican border. in the north of this country it is a forest and increasingly violent place. a father of two of the abducted school girls recounts the terror from the day the school was attacked. >> i heard the cry or the shout of the student because i'm very close to the school. >> reporter: he says the islamic radical group boko haram held the girls nearby but nobody came to help. >> not more than a few meters for a good 11 days. >> reporter: the slow response has been replaced by international outcry and mobilization. eight u.s. military personnel arrived in nigeria on friday, another seven traveled this weekend. >> really, the nigerian government will allow them to walk dreadfully. >> reporter: criticism of the nigerians has been leveled from all sides. amnesty international said the military had at least four hours

as has been demonstrated recently, boko haram uses the lightly controlled borders between nigeria and its neighbors for cross-border operations. last week, france hosted a very timely summit at which heads of state from nigeria, chad, cameroon, benin, niger, along with the u.s. and uk, sought to improve regional collaboration. for our part, dod and the department of state are working closely together on a proposal to enhance border security along nigeria's common borders, with chad, niger and cameroon, in support of a regional response to counter the threat posed by boko haram. the concept is to build border security capacity and promote better cooperation and communication among the security forces of each country with the aim of reducing boko haram's operational space and safe havens. as committed as the u.s. is to supporting nigeria, and in returning these girls safely, nigeria's fight against boko haram is a very challenging case. in the face of a new and more sophisticated threat, nigeria's security forces have been greatly challenged by boko haram's tactics. also troubling have been the heavy

enand the fighters to move freely across the border without a strong schmidtment from the neighbors, they say, of nigeriao fight boko haram. it was all along thought that this was nigeria's problem alone. now with this conference, with this renewed effort, they can finally see all of the region cooperating in confronting boko haram. we have also seen a lot of civilian checkpoints here on the ground. civilians have said that they have really born the brunt of these attacks and they weren't not going to wait for these attacks. they have mobilized groups of hunters to try to find the girls in the forest where they believe to have been taken to. but they say they have not sent out those hunters yet in fear that that would contradict and conflick with the ongoing international efforts to find the dpirlz. >> ukraineians are preparing to fight in next week's elections. separatists in the east of the country are trying to disrupt the poll. kim vannel reports where some people are too scared to go to the polling stations. >> in the russian-speaking east cam papering ahead of the presidential election is well unde

seen convoys filled with young girls and armed assailants traveling a road leading from nigeria into neighboringnow, after this despicable video where the supposed leader of boko haram, abubakar shekau, makes the claim that he will sell these children in a human market, this is what -- this is their worst fears realized. and in fact, what they've said to us is had the military been more active, had they done more in the early days after the abduction, perhaps this might not have happened, john. >> vlad, what about the mixed signals on the issue of urgency, if you will, from the government itself, from the president and his wife? because i think this is confusing to a lot of people from the outside looking in. >> reporter: nigeria is a confusing country in many cases. there are mixed signals all the time. look, what's happened in the north in this country is something that has been happening since 2009. boko haram has killed more than 1,500 people just this year alone, an astounding number. the abduction of these 200 girls in any country in the world would bring that country to a standstill. here

convoys filled with young girls and what they say were militants on a road leading from nigeria into neighboring cameroon. and so, right now, a lot of fears that they may be long gone and it would be very, very difficult to track them. >> vlad, what is the hope that u.s. officials can contribute to this particular search for these girls? we know that there are american personnel on the ground. what are they hoping that they can do and achieve? >> reporter: well, you know, anything that they offer is going to be more than what the people in chibok said they've been getting. what they hope to do with the united states law enforcement officials, intelligence officials, some military personnel, although combat troops are not expected to take part, is offer logistical assistance, intelligence, tactics and techniques that can be applied if they make contact with the militants and if they are able to locate these girls and where they kept them. i think for the first time, the nigerian government taking note that the world is outraged with what's going on here, and this has been going on since 2009. so,

they believe that their children, their girls would be taken out of nigeria into neighboring cameroon, chad and niger, very porous border between those countries, very little security. boko haram operates freely along that border. in fact, the sambisa forest, where it is believed they initially took the girls, is a boko haram stronghold. so, real fear for the parents that they may never seen these children again as they've been split up across three different countries, john. >> nevertheless, give me a sense of the current u.s. involvement in this effort, vlad. >> reporter: what we know, john, is that another seven u.s. military personnel are set to arrive either today or in the next couple days, joining a team of 11 that's already on the ground. eventually, with the experts, advisers that will be coming in, we're looking at a team of about 50 or 60. we're not talking combat troops, just in an advisory role to provide logistical support, intelligence, mapping technologies, and they're going to need it because this is an area where the nigerian military has not been very active. as i s

back and on the way to a paris to a security summit there called by the french involving nigeria and its neighbors and discussions about how on earth to combat boko haram. as for the search itself, tamron, it seems to be in some kind of chaos. nigeria's army just sacked its commanding officer in the area citing real concerns about his leadership. nigeria says it's got two divisions. it says there's a search going on but there's absolutely no proof whatsoever that that search is actually happening or that it's gaining any success. >> all right. bill, thank you very much for those new details there and that ongoing tragic situation out of nigeria. thank you, sir. >>> and federal prosecutors have joined the investigation into the growing allegations that veterans affairs officials hid excessive wait times and caused several deaths. this as secretary shinseki says he will not resign. >>> and this -- >> have you failed these veterans? >> i took this job not to fail veterans. i came to make things better for them. >> we'll have more from nbc's jim miklaszewski and join us with that interview. >>> plus,

he believes the girls are still held within the territory of nigeria and have not been taken to neighboringcountries. according to him, the information is they are still in nigeria. i believe that. somewhere in nigeria. it could be in the forest where boko haram has camps there. the governor believes they are held in nigeria. >> many thanks for that. we're going to cross to john also in the area on the phone. what can you tell us about the release of this video? >> reporter: well it happened half an hour ago, 45 minutes ago. it shows -- no doubt you've been describing to view ers what it shows. it seems to be genuine and follows the past boko haram pattern of videos and release. the interesting thing i think about it, it's -- i'm in the capital of the state where the school actually is. this is are almost like a kind of besieged town. boko haram has a lot of scope all around it in much of the state. so we haven't been able to see the video at all yet. >> just to let you know. we're just showing the video pictures now. >> you're better off than i am. the key thing in it is what boko haram le