their initial efforts have been to work with nigerian security personnel to analyze nigerian operationserwise provide requested expeer tees and information to the nigerian authorities including through the use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. we are also working closely with other international partners including the uk and france to coordinate multilateral actions and maximize our collective assistance efforts. mr. chairman, the threat to nigeria from boko haram has grown over the past five years and mutates day by day, extending its reach, increasing the sophistication and lee that willty of attacks and growing military capacity. these most recent attacks are especially unconsciousable because they were perpetrated against innocent girls. and because of the sheer scale of the attack in chibok. unfortunately these kidnappings are only the most recent outrages in a growing portfolio of attacks perpetrated by boko haram in its war against education. on july 6th, 2013, in an attack on the secondary school in mamuto village 29 students were killed including reports

their initial efforts have been to work with nigerian security personnel to analyze nigerian operations, identify gaps and short falls, and otherwise provide requested expeer tees and information to the nigerian authorities including through the use of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support. we are also working closely with other international partners including the uk and france to coordinate multilateral actions and maximize our collective assistance efforts. mr. chairman, the threat to nigeria from boko haram has grown over the past five years and mutates day by day, extending its reach, increasing the sophistication and lee that willty of attacks and growing military capacity. these most recent attacks are especially unconsciousable because they were perpetrated against innocent girls. and because of the sheer scale of the attack in chibok. unfortunately these kidnappings are only the most recent outrages in a growing portfolio of attacks perpetrated by boko haram in its war against education. on july 6th, 2013, in an attack on the secondary school in mamuto village 2

thousands of nigerians to date. and their loose title of the translation boko haram is western education is a sin. their mission is to carry out a war against those who educate or empower women.oko haram. their mission is to carry out a war against those who educate or empower women. and the greatest sin to them is not treating women as chattel, which they do, or enslaving women, which they purport to justify, or selling women. no the greatest sin to them is to be involved in educating or teaching young women how to read and write. and over time, this group, boko haram, has developed a vast arsenal of weapons. they are an al qaeda affiliate. they've -- they've sworn their allegiance to al qaeda. they've received training from al qaeda groups. they've built up their resources with that support. and this means greater terror for the people in northern nigeria. and greater challenges for nigerian security forces. unfortunately, these forces suffer unprofessional elements with poor morale. i have been in nigeria several

what was the nigerians government response and what of the nigerians taking full opportunity of those secretary kerry called the president roughly two weeks ago today to made the offer of which it involved intelligence collection and other resources that i describe in my testimony. >> almost immediately after the incident does embassy declared a state of emergency that allowed us to bring in additional resources and assessment teams. the second was the administrator almost immediate lee traveled to nigeria to me with that government also is to partaken other discussions but did partaken this issue. >> the state department took the lead to make the initial offer however once the government of nigeria accepted the offer i believe on the fourth they had flights by the night of may. >> if i could ambassador jackson there's testimony does state department to liberated mother to make it a foreign terrorist organization or to designate the top leaders which happened in 2012 and the group as a whole the following year. but what were the implications and what additional steps have been taken t

yes, they'll hit other nigerians. they'll hit other westerners, but christians are their main target. secondly, i want to strongly associate my remarks and concerns with concerns raised by chairman rice at the leahy amendment as having the unintended consequence of precluding best practices, military training of well-vetted nigerian forces. you said wrerl, and i hope it was out of context that it's not our problem to solve this. well, maybe not alone, but certainly in tandem with the neej earian deposit and the families that have lost their daughters and others who may be at risk of losing their sons and daughters. one of the biggest takeaways i had was talking to our own people who said leahy is -- we're all for leahy. it needs to be looked at in a calibrated fashion. there can be stood up those forces in the nigerian military who are well vetted to become a strike force and make all the difference in the world and maybe they're about to do that, but it should have been done for years. there's nothing whatsoever part

the nigerian government, nobody else. >> has a nigerian american, are you concerned or are you angry that the united states government and the rest of the international community acted slowly? and if so, why do you think they did? >> yeah. well, i don't know whether i should use the word "angry" but suddenly we were disappointed that the u.s. department, it took more than two years to make a determination that this group is a terrorist organization. what we founded the association, we got on the ball and we started meeting with u.s. government officials and trying to explain to them that this is a terrorist group, but for almost -- almost 14 months, they never agreed with us until november, last year, that was when they agreed, so, yes, of course, we are very glad at least right now, everybody seems to be on the ball. >> pastor, briefly, though, for those that say that america cannot be the world's cops, what do you say about the nigerian government, and have they done enough to combat boko haram? >> well, we are disappointed that the nigerian government has not done enough even base

>> reporter: talking about this crisis, to trust the nigerians to do so. the american government place boko haram as a terrorist organization. there are a lot of folks who think they should have acted quicker in doing so, but the united states and nigeria have a relative good relationship. the president has visited there in the past. bill clinton mobbed in the streets of nigeria below. i haven't heard of that coming up as an issue, david. >> thanks for that report. >>> several members of congress went to the nigerian embassy in washington to discuss the latest security challenges after boko haram attacks. bubefore they had turned down various offers of help, but not this time. >> nigeria is humbled. they are in pain. they love their children, and they are now, as they have been, drawing the world to help them go after the thugs. let's kill the cancer. let's drag out this vile person. >> u.s. diplomats think that the boko haram tying this latest event to the conference that the nigerian government is hosting. hundreds of foreign dignitaries, industrial lead

on tuesday americans turned ought across the country in support of nigerians. even the president spoke about it. >> we've already sent in a team to nigeria. they've accepted our help, accommodation of military, law enforcement, and other agencies. this may be the event that helps to mobilize the entire international community to finally do something against this horrendous organization that has perpetrated such a horrendous crime. >> that crime happened here three weeks ago as a ruler nigerian high school bustling with students, everyone preparing for final examines, armed militia raided in the middle of the night. more than 300 girls were kidnapped. driven into dense forests, never to be heard from again. >> we thought they were soldiers, and my friends and i jumped from the vehicle and ran back home because we realized they didn't look innocent to us. >> reporter: today 276 of those girls are still missing. two dozen escaped. two died from snakebite. 20 are ill. and reports say 11 more girls have been kidnapped from a neighboring village. >> the islamist extr

in other words, the nigerian -- nigerians look to help, not be helped. so this is a different set of circumstances for nigeria. >> let me bring up one more question. what does this terrorist group boko haram want? is this all about a prisoner swap for some of their members in nigerian jails or is this simply about terrorizing the nigerian people and undercutting the central government? >> what boko haram's rhetoric says is it wants to destroy the nigerian state. it wants to destroy the nigerian state because the state is secular. it wants to destroy western education because it sees western education as promoting secularism and shaping the nigerian state. >> ms. shahid, you run the malala fund run after your good friend malala who was subject to a terrible attack in pakistan, a schoolgirl who was speaking for girls' rights. why are these terrorist -- these islamist groups so frustrated, so threatened by the power of women? >> chris, it's unfortunately a tactic that we've seen deployed by extreme groups again and again as means of intimidation, of control

i spoke to nigerians here in atlanta and also nigerians overseas.e -- i think to be honest, very embarrassed that nigeria has had this lackluster response, particularly, you know, nigeria is a huge economy. it's one of the most populous countries in africa. people are saying why can't nigeria step up, and, you know, if you know anything about nigeria, nigerians are very proud people, so this is -- this is a real embarrassment. i really think up until now people are not happy with president goodluck jonathan's response so far. >> this is to say nothing of his wife's initial response. i want to ask how people are reacting to the arrival of u.s. military assistance? i want to let our audience know that -- the connection was really difficult with mr mr. abdulahi. we're going to stuck we, kumdi. the reaction of people around the world and anyone you are speaking with to the arrival of u.s. military assessment teams, not to find the girls, but to have to assist the nigerian security forces in doing this search. >> i mean, i think initially people are happ

the nigerian military will have to conduct any rescue mission.sion that may encounter boko haram militants armed with libyan machine gurns, rocket propelled grenades and other weapons grabbed hundreds of miles away in libya after the fall of moammar gadhafi. >> boko haram may have got hold of surface-to-air missiles including sa-7 missiles. there's significant concern about that. not absolute proof they've obtained these, but significant concern. >> reporter: now a claim from amnesty international that nigerian security forces were aware of a plan to attack the school four hours before it happened, but failed to deploy enough troops. nigerian security forces knew about boko haram's impending raid, but failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it, the group said in a statement. the nigerian government adamantly denies it knew anything about an impending attack on the school. behind the scene, the u.s. is talking to the nigerians about sharing satellite imagery and electronic communications, but with every day that goes by, those girls are

their parents say they feel abandoned by the nigerian government. al jazeera is the first news organization to visit the area whether the girls were taken. we are joined from the phone. you spoke to one of the girls who escaped. what did she say? >> well, she described their experience, how they were abducted and taken to the forest, and how some jumped from the trucks when one of the trucks broke down and made a dash for the forest. they spent days in the forest before reaching home. they spoke of how they took them and threatened to kill some of them. they managed to escape. sort of lying to the abductors. they ran, they were chased after, and finally they made it home. >> maybe you can explain what people say about how we know so little about the girls kidnapped and how they were taken. >> well, it was - according to the girl i spoke to, the attackers came shortly after midnight. and they were walking up -- woken up from their sleep by the sound of gunfire and an explosion in the town. they came to the school and told them we are the military, we

a correspondent of ours, nima elbagir makes a journey to the nigerian village where hundreds of schoolgirls were abducted. she talks exclusively to a girl who escaped the terrorists. hear her terrifying account of what happened and what villagers fear might happen next. people in oreck, missouri, are spending mother's day cleaning up after a tornado last night. a national weather service team is now investigating the damage. there's been no word on injuries, but officials are going door to door to make sure everyone's out and okay. the state highway patrol estimates out of about rather 80% of the town, which is east of kansas city, was affected. an entire silo, in fact, crumbled to the ground from the powerful winds. one woman said it looked like they got bombed. and there's more severe weather to worry about. there's a two-minute warning right now in southern iowa and a tornado watch in effect for central and eastern iowa. and a warning along highway 35 there. cnn meteorologist jennifer grey joins us now with more on this. jennifer, what do people need to pay closest attention to right now

a prisoner swap for their members in nigerian jails or about terrorizing the nigerian people and undercutting the central government? >> what their rhetoric says is that it wants to destroy the nigerian state. it wants to destroy the nigerian state because the state is secular. it wants to destroy western education because it sees western education as promoting secularism and shaping the nigerian state. >> you run the fund named after your friend who was subject to a terrible attack in pakistan as a schoolgirl who was speaking for girls' rights. why are these terrorist or these islamists groups so frustrated, so threatened by the power of women? >> chris, unfortunately, it is a tactic we have seen deployed by extreme groups again and again as a means of intimidation, of control, of terrorizing families, of terrorizing entire populations. it really temperatures from the wider ideology of groups like boko haram and the taliban which attacked malala, fear of progress and fear of liberal thinking and of woke being empowered. in one valley we saw it as a gradual progression where, first, children

when it comes to the nigerian military. so i think there are calls now for the nierch government to do all -- for nigerian government to do all that it can, to protect human rights, human dignity of these incredibly courageous school girls that these dpeams are anxiously -- families are anxiously awaiting news on, all nigerians throughout the country should have that measure of hux rights protected of also -- human rights protected of also the rule of law throughout the country. >> maybe you can help us with the question we've been asking all along how is it that 276 school girls can be kidnapped from a community and almost vanish into thin air and no one knows where they are? >> what you have because of the political situation in nigeria is extremely volatile, we're going into an election year in nigeria and we have quite a few people who are expression discontent with the government. what you have is a situation where communities may not be as frank and forthcoming as they could be. where you have police, military, other

the nigerians have the lead.is to help secure the release and return of these girls. >> if it was a swap, would the u.s. continue to be involved with the nigerian government? or is it their call to take? >> it's the nigerians call to make to try to do whatever they can to secure the safe return and full return of the girls. so the united states -- we have a team of experts who are there in support of that effort and that effort is really holistic. we are not only providing experts on negotiations but on rescue attempts as well as on how to deal with hostage situations. so we will continue to support that effort and also to talk and work with the nigerian government on the other kinds of support that they need to be giving to that region. >> are we aware at all of who the prisoners that boko haram wants back, who they are, for instance, if the nigerians decided to trade, would the u.s. get any say in who goes free? i imagine some of the boko haram prisoners are dangerous terrorists. the group has designated the te

we are respectful of the nigerian attitude. boko haram and the fear of designating the organization would bring it more publicity, in retrospect, we might have done it earlier. i think the important thing is we have done it and we've offered a reward for the leadership of boko haram's rockies. >> for future reference, do you think there is a lesson here when we make decisions about designating groups as terrorists, it shouldn't simply be -- either you're a terrorist group or not and in the future we should not so heavily rely upon some government's input with regards to whether an organization that happens to be operating within their territory should be designated or no. >> i think there is definitely a lesson here. i think we will be quicker to act to make designations based on our own assessments earlier on based on this. >> my last question has to do with a broader theme regard to the risks of global jihadists and terrorists at-large. there was a narrative not long ago al qaeda was on the run. it was dissipating. in fact a

there are that ongoing demonstrations by nigerian women calling on the nigerian government to do more. these demonstrations appear to means of social media. this is an increasingly important dimension to everyday lives around the world. thought on foreign policy, the sugars to critics of former secretary of state hillary clinton, why she did not label boko haram a terrorist group. was one of those amongst perhaps 20 who signed a letter to secretary clinton urging her not to designate boko haram as a foreign terrorist organization. the arguments that we made then, . think, are still valid if you look at the legislation, it basically does two things -- it restricts the ability -- in fact, denies the ability of boko visas toerence to get go to the united states, and it also blocks the transfer of funds from the united states to a designated terrorist organization. , it iscase of boko haram hardly imaginable that boko going toratives are show up at the american embassy and request a visa to the united states. as for assets, i have seen no evidence that there are any boko haram assets in t

about the nigerian government's response.it is also brought allegations of civilian deaths. "the new york times" reported on badgering some the north recused military of the terror campaign and are offensive to rule out the boko haram. the crimees described of terror that push them in the thousands to flee for miles to the harsh and baking semi deserts. sometimes on foot to niger. a few blamed boko haram. what about the nigerian military committing atrocities? poetry is always been known for brutality. the nigerian military has always been known for brutality. they have no respect for human rights. i'm not surprised we're hearing that. we are documents several of these indiscriminate killings of civilians. as a matter of fact, as i mentioned at the beginning of the program, boko haram became deadly because of this reckless extrajudicial killing of innocent leaders were innocent members -- were innocent members. by the time they were killing them, it had not become as deadly as we know now. >> i want to go back to ijeoma uduma

tonight the pentagon says the nigerians have not asked for help.ning me, former supreme allied commander in nato, jeffrey clark, seth jones, and issa she say, of course, live tonight. can the united states do more to help? >> certainly. i mean, first of all, we have intelligence, we have overhead imagery, we can listen and monitor what's being said. we can provide training and assistance. we could do something to help. maybe not immediately get these girls back. that depends on where they are, but we have reached through that part of africa and boko haram is becoming an increasing threat, not only inside northeast nigeria, but to its neighbors, as well. >> seth, this kidnapping was on a grand scale. as i was reporting there, there have been other abductions of girls, but it's the sheer headline of this that's gotten people's attention, but boko has been doing things for years, slitting people's throats, burning them alive, but the united states only designated them as a terrorist organization a few months ago, in december. why did it take so long?

boko haram is blamed with killing nearly 300 nigerians. and after 276 girls were kidnapped april 14th. the u.s. sent experts into nigeria to help find them and today nigeria's police offered $300,000 for any credible evidence to their rescue. africa's biggest economy its stronghold is in the northeastern borno state. the two most recent are assaults took place there. then monday 160 miles away a deadly market attack in the town of gamburu. according to a senator from borno, a boko haram fighter shot everyone in sight. there could be more victims they haven't found. the kidnapped nigerian school girls have been missing now for more than three weeks. international effort to rescue them but their parents feel abandoned by the nigerian government. the visit to where the girls were taken, ahmed, tell us what she said? >> well, she described their experience in the hands of boko haram, how they were abducted and taken to the forest and how some of them jumped in the trucks when one of the trucks broke down, and one inside the forest, they spent

>> we did meet the group of women, went to the nigerian embassy. i spoke to the nigerian ambassador he is in nigeria right now so wasn't with us in the meeting. i think it's appropriate for us to respond to the requests made by the nigerian government. and i did not get the impression that they were asking for that right now. >> but the nigerian government has been so roundly criticized for not moving quickly on this. and then when they have moved, they've done it in a haphazard way with very little intensity. are you concerned that not nearly enough is being done? >> i'm absolutely concerned. i'm concerned for the life and the safety of the girls. and my sympathy and empathy goes out to the parents. i tell you in the beginning the nigerian response was not well coordinated. you will remember because i know your station reported it, that all the girls were rescued and then changed that story. had not communicated well, efforts they have been doing. one of the things they assured us is that they have, their direct response was, our country is unifie

action by the nigerian government. cnn white house correspondent michelle could s michelle cosin ski is here to talk about this. the president welcomed and accepted the u.s. offer to help in the search. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: you kind of have to read between the lines to some extent here. it's been a sensitive topic from the beginning as to what exactly the u.s. involvement has been, and will be. cnn is getting different information from different sources as to what exactly accepted the u.s. offer means. today the white house said that, yes, we took it to mean the u.s. took it to mean nigeria has accepted the offer, which would mean a team of experts going there and being formed there to help them with security issues, and finding these girls. but it's really been described as a team going down there to talk about what can be done. so accepting an offer to help might not mean much in a concrete sense right now. we know that secretary of state john kerry talked to the president of nigeria about this. an

>> nigerian military had prior warning of a boko haram attack. more than 230 schoolgirls were kidnapped. i'm judy with aljazeera live, top stories, ukrainian forces and pro russian separatists clash. and meanwhile, vladimir putin makes his first appearance since russia's annexation of crimea. and the first day of community service, but is he paying the fair price? >>> the nineeria military had a warning of the boko haram attack that led to the abduction of 230 schoolgirls. they were given two hours warning but failed to act. >> this could have been avoided. a police officer and a state mp have told aljazeera that aljazeera's military ignored warnings that boko haram was about to attack this school. it left the islamic extremist group free to kidnap more than 200 girls. and sources said that just 17 soldiers were on duty in the area when boko haram fighters turned up. >> the number of fighters, they had to flee for their lives. and they fled to the bush. and it's as shocking of a revelation. we have been repeatedly calling on the nigerian authorit

>> well, there has been a lot of worry among nigerians but the nigerian media has not picked this upshould have been the case because it has been so much of this bad news coming from the northeast part of nigeria. there has been previous kidnaps and abductions of school girls or even unmarried citizens. but more to the extent than we have. this is really quite a lot of people kidnapped at this time in one single incident. >> there are some who are suggesting this case could, in fact, turn out to be good news for a president good luck onthon out of the elections next year because it basically takes away, distracts from the many other issues that nigeria is facing right now, do you believe that? what do you think the fall out from this is going to be? >> well, the fall out is evidence, we have a government that has not been able to deliver on their promises. they kidnapped and the incident in borno is one incident and beyond the kidnap the country is in terrible crisis. nigeria has a downtime of government and infrastructure collapsed across the country, unemployment is at its highest

that is what we expect the nigerian army to do.f they do that, surely they will [indiscernible] >> from one the situation in nigeria and the newly revealed us program to train so called homegrown african counterterrorism teams, we're joined by dayo olopade. she is a nigerian american of, "thet and author bright continent: breaking rules and making changes in modern africa." welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. talk about the latest. >> i think just looking at those clips and hearing folks expressed confidence in nigerian government and military possibility to rescue these girls rang a bit false to me. i think this has been a problem upwards of five years with respect to boko haram and earlier in this debacle, the nigerian government claims they have found the girls. so unless there's really some hard evidence they really have managed to track the girls down and have the capacity and willingness to rescue them, i would take some of these with a grain of salt. in general, that is been one of the more frustrating

so it's hard for the nigerian military. they said yesterday that a military operation to find and rescue the girls is under way but there's really hardly any proof that that is the case. and certainly no sign that there is any success. the nigerians are becoming a little bit defensive about what's happening and the failure to locate the girls. they say that 300 have been carried out, two divisions of men on the ground. if they are stung by the criticism so far, they'll have been even more stung by comments made by one senior department of defense official in washington this morning. alice friend, head of the africa division, saying nigerian army's 7th division in the north is showing real fear. it's preferring not to engage boko haram and incapable of matching that group's brutality. if there is sensitivity on the nigerians part on the criticism they've been facing so far, that will have increased even more today. >> bill, let me follow up with that point. there was real concern that the nigerian government wouldn't coopera

and i think this is probably in keeping with both what the nigerian government is comfortable with. there's been a history there of u.s. assistance offered and sometimes accepted and sometimes not. as well as this administration's goal of really -- especially in african conflicts, taking a step back, letting this be a nigerian-led operation and not entangling the united states in kind of an intervention that does not directly threaten u.s. national security interests. >> why are the nigerians so hesitant, reluctant, whatever the word is, to accept outside help, or to accept office of help from the united states or anyone else? ? we've heard about this in probably more detail than ever before, as u.s. officials currents and former have explained this, this week. and it's really -- part of it is this nigerian national pride, that they have a professional force, they have an intelligence service and thank you very much, we'll handle this on our own. but also, there's a reluctance because oftentimes the u.s. assistance will come with admonitions about the decidedly checkered human right

>> the nigerian government is caught between a rock and a hard place.it does not strike some sort of deal, it runs the risk of having close to 300 girls lost forever or killed or whatever. on the other hand, if they get hasrecognition boko haram sought and the government has denied up until now, so either way, president goodluck jonathan a stand if he does and dammed if doeses not -- damned if he and damned if he doesn't. >> as many as 150 miners are feared dead following an explosion in a mine in western turkey. authorities say rescue efforts will continue through the night. those trapped are about two kilometers below the surface and four kilometers from the mine's exit. there are concerns now over the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning inside the mine. mining accidents are common in turkey, which is plagued by poor safety conditions. russia will not be able to make ukraine into a failed state -- that's the promise from ukraine's prime minister. exclusiveaking in an interview with the bbc. he is in brussels drumming up support from the european unio

negotiating -- negotiations between the nigerian government and boko haram?at the best way to do this? does the military need to stay out of it? what do you think will work? >> we have a hostage situation like this, there are two options. first, before you think of the girls, you are forced to know where they are kept which nobody knows. use of force to rescue these girls will put the girls in further danger. people who are highly armed are sacrificing their own lives. secondly, the option of negotiations, i believe, will be the best option for now. the girls are not located in one place and the group has a chain of command. i believe that if an offer should be made to them concerning the situation, there will be some consideration of the girls. >> all right. shehu sani, we appreciate your insight. we will call on you again as we stay on top of this story here on al jazeera america. still ahead trough.... >> the retirement years is the last time you should ever begin to think about living alone. >> baby boomers face the future and find some unique solutions t

this time of eight additional nigerian girls. the _#bring back our girls is still trending across social media with celebrities now joining in. sean combs even asking for for shares on instagram and asking for retweets -- hillary clinton posting we must stand up to terrorism. today we're hearing from one of the girls who managed to escape capture that night three weeks ago when armed men in uniforms burst into her school. the 16-year-old told the associated press in a phone interview that the men said don't worry. we're soldiers. nothing is going to happen to you. then they started shouting alluhu akhbar, god is great, and then she said we knew. the only girl in her family described her escape. we ran and ran so fast. that is how i saved myself. i had no time to be scared. i was just running. running to escape from this man, abu shakahr shs shakou. boko haram has been in place since the late 19980s. he has been in charge since the group's previous leader was killed in 2010. their focus has been to threaten and attack western infl

it is by a motion former nigerian minister -- it is from a muslim former nigerian minister. he says there could be inroads into boko haram's grip down the road. we need now is special development projects in the north of the country, where boko haram has been mainly based, and that involves irrigation, agriculture, redeveloping the desert, so that the local people are able to live and take part in nigerian society. he says it is not charity, it is enlightened self-interest. "if we do not give people something to live for, someone will always step in and give them something to die for." >> you've also been looking at coverage of syria. >> there is an exclusive on the front page of "the garden" paper in the u.k. --w they turned to deadly the explosion we saw at the citadel in aleppo him a massive explosion. the paper has an interview with abu -- one of the people packing in the last explosives in that bomb. he says they targeted syrian troops. 30 to 50 died. as soon as the bomb went off, it boosted morale on the revenue -- rebel side. he was a carpenter before the war. he says

we are involved right now with the nigerian government advising the nigerian government as they seek to find the girls so that they can be secured and returned to their families. so i would say at this point we are not actively considering the deployment of u.s. military personnel in a combined rescue attempt. we would have to know where the girls are. as a simple proposition before we could discuss rescue attempts at this point we are not considering, as i mentioned earlier, the deployment of u.s. military personnel. the military personnel who are involved in this effort are involved in an advisory capacity >> they should be so that once the girls are found, whenever that should happen, was the location is determined those forces are at the ready. is there some validity to that argument? >> i have not seen the specific comment. i am aware that he is talking about sending special forces personnel. i would say that in terms of readiness and personnel, that is a question better addressed to the department of defense. right now we are working with the nigerian government on their effort

some citigroup is now better armed than the nigerian military.ablishedm has itself primarily in the mainly north nigeria. it is the country's poorest area, one of the poorest in the with high levels of unemployment, infant mortality, and illiteracy. many nigerians accused the government of neglecting the region. thee the general neglect -- general neglect helped boko haram. but if boko haram does not help people, how could they manage to get soldiers, fighters? unemployment is helping them because the youth are looking to find ways to lead. >> boko haram have artie killed thousands of people, and the eu when estimates that hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes. >> earlier, i spoke to dw's reporter who is traveling in northern nigeria. i asked him how great to the threat is from boko haram. >> well, the threat is very high , especially in northern nigeria. it is more in the northeast of captain, thethe cia is still in the military, if you remember, there were two shiite isacks, -- the still in the military. if your member, the

every time boko haram gives northern nigerians a reason to hate them, it seems the nigerian governmento them. in mid march, some locals alerted the government boko haram was in their village, but military did nothing no several days and then sent air force jets. ten civilians were killed. boko haram untouched. that is a scathing assessment. was that your experience? >> well, i was ambassador for nigeria from 2004 to 2007. it was a very different government then. the one now does indeed seem to be extraordinarily theckless. it has basically approached boko haram as a coukouncounterterror issue and with an extremely heavy hand. there have been quite credible reports of the security forces killing hundreds and hundreds of people. many people in northern nigeria will say they are as frightened of the security forces as they are of boko haram. >> i don't want to -- as we talk about this sort of back and forth between the nigerian government and this jihadist terrorist group, we can't lose focus on the fundamental issue which is the role of women in the developing world and the importance of

and it has come to represent fear for many nigerians. with such a strong boko haram presence, rescuing the girls will not be easy. >> some nigerians call it the evil forest. the sambisa -- in northern nigeria -- is home to the radical armed group boko haram. and it has come to represent fear for many nigerians. >> the sambisa forest is one of the biggest sites where the boko haram operates from. the sambisa forest is their sort of headquarters, their hiding place, because of the nature of that area" since the sects have taken over the forest has become extremely dangerous. >> it's likely that the nearly 300 kidnapped schools girls are being held in the sambisa. it covers about 23,000 square miles -- about the size of west virginia. the forest was once a game reserve -- but came under boko haram's control in 2009. it is thorny, overgrown, full of wildlife like poisonous snakes, lions, and elephants. the size and rough terrain make it especially difficult for search teams who have been relying on jets flying overhead. >> you can't see from

there has been this kind of muddle on the part of the nigerian government.want to stress that i had dwayne on my show yesterday and he firmly rejected that had been the case. but that's how it appears to people like ourselves on the ground and to a lot of nigerians. when it comes back to the girls, this is happening in nigeria's borders. all the international help in the world which is here, it's still here in an advisory capacity. it is going to come down to the commitment and the will of the nigerian people to see this through to the end to bring these girls home. errol? >> yeah. and i think many people want to believe the nigerian government is doing all it can. they want to see the proof, see the evidence, see the plan, whatever the strategy is. isha, great to see you. thank you very much. >>> still to come here on "cnn newsroom," we'll look at the heart wrenching defense of a woman's faith in sudan. what will she sacrifice for it? >>> plus it's anti-homophobia day. more next. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes? lactaid® is 100% real milk?

the nigerian government has a huge military budget. but it's not translating to effective operations on the ground. it's important for the nigerian government to figure out why and do something about it. >> were there reports that you heard from villagers that there had been some warning before this attack? >> yes. i spoke to quite a few residents of the town of chibak that they heard up to two hours before the attack that boko haram was coming. and they alerted the military, and the military showed up several years after the objection. >> well, that raises other questions about the nigerian government. we understand that president goodluck jonathan has also talked to david cameron today and has accepted british help. now the brits, the french and the u.s. are all offering help. the question is, how it's going to be utilized, as you point out, knowing the region so well. thank you very much alexis. appreciate your experience there. >> thank you. >>> and in ukraine, is there a crack in putin's armor today? the russian president has now

ambassador met with the nigerian national security adviser to try to figure that out.ut, scott, there is concern in the u.s. that nigerian forces may not have the capability to carry out a hostage rescue operation. >> pelley: margaret brennan at the state department. margaret, thank you. the village where the girls were taken is incredibly remote. michelle miller has been looking into how their plight became a global cause. >> reporter: the school color is blue but many of the students at the all-girl school in new rochelle, new york, wore red today. >> we're not there in nigeria with them but we're marching, too. >> reporter: red is the color of protest in nigeria. show of hands-- how many of you first heard the news on twitter? so all of you. the abductions in nigeria were on april 15, but the story did not gain traction online until april 23 when two nigerians tweeted #bringbackourdaughters. it this time-lapse of twitter message traffic shows how within days a new slogan #bringbackourgirls was being shared around the world. the messages skyrocketed from a couple tho

the threats. >> even a bigger concern is the capacity of the nigerian military and the nigerian government's failure to provide leadership to the military. they don't have the capabilities or the equipment or the training that boko haram does. >> reporter: consistent reports from nigeria that the government is guilty of gross human rights of violations. >> perpetrated during some of the security forces against boko haram, and we cannot provide assistance when we have he credible information that those units have violated human rights. >> it's citizens, that it can protect them and offer opportunity. when the soldiers destroy towns, and detain innocent people with impunity, mistrust takes root. >> reporter: that mistrust is growing, there's fear in the u.s. that the wave of anger could spark sectarian violence, and an increasing number of nigerians allege that the biggest number of schoolgirls may not be boko haram, but instead an incompetent nigerian government. >> in ukraine, thousands of workers are taking control of the city from pro russian forces, and joining forces with the police to p

the nigerian government offers a reborn for help in finding the abducted schoolgirls, an american andritish teams aid in that search. and meet pinocchio rex. a new species of dinosaur has been discovered in china, and its snout is quite a sight. ♪ welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the globe. hundreds of syrian opposition fighters have left their last remaining stronghold in the city of homs. the evacuation is a major victory for the syrian government. homs was often called the capital of the revolution and was one of the first places to rise up against the president. the city has been all but destroyed in this war. in homs is over. smoke rises over the buildings. the rebel fighters moved out. demoralized and hungry after two years of siege. officers and president assad's army called it a surrender or starve. none of the international legions succeeded in putting enough pressure on the regime to open a humanitarian corridor or to supply us with basic needs of food and medicine. preserve -- we will leave to preserve who is still inside alive. >> each

is that help being accepted by the nigerian government? if not, why?but the reality is painful. we are going to bring it home to you with the parents of the missing girls. plus, we are going to talk with a u.s. senator and official from the state department about what the best course of action is for the u.s. >>> we have what you are looking at now. what is this? brand-new surveillance video of that teen, remember the kid that stowed away from california to hawaii? he's staggering out of the plane afterwards on to the tarmac. fascinating to us medically and why he did it. we are going to break it down for you. how about that, ladies? >> that is something to watch. i can't imagine how cold it must been in that plane when he was up there. boy, where there's a will, there's a way. thanks, chris. appreciate it. >>> a heart breaking call. what we are hearing about a shooting, straight ahead. woman: this is not exactly what i expected. man: definitely more murdery than the reviews said. captain obvious: this is a creepy room. man: oh hey, captain obvious. ca