First up, U.S. government officials say they've captured intelligence on how the ISIS terrorist organization works, how it communicates and how it earns money. It's the result of an overnight raid by U.S. special forces troops in an ISIS occupied building in eastern Syria. It happened over the weekend.  

 

The U.S. mission was to capture Abu Sayyaf, an ISIS commander. He was killed in a firefight, along with about 12 ISIS fighters. All of the U.S. troops returned safely.

 

President Obama authorized the raid. Analysts say it did put U.S. boots on the ground, meaning U.S. forces were in direct combat with ISIS fighters. That's something the president said last year he would not do. A U.S. military official says this kind of raid is likely to happen again.

 

The ground operation was led by the Army's Delta Force who entered the target area on Black Hawk helicopters and a V-22 Tilt Rotor Osprey. After landing, about two dozen commandoes scrambled off the aircraft which then took off but hovered overhead.  

 

During a firefight, ISIS fighters defended the multi-story building from inside and outside positions. But Special Forces were able to get close to the building and blow a hole in its side. They went in, encountered ISIS fighters and there were more gunshots and reports of hand-to-hand combat.  

 

The ISIS combatants apparently tried to use human shields, but U.S. troops managed to kill the fighters without hurting the women and children. ISIS commander Abu Sayyaf was killed in the raid, but Delta Force was able to capture and leave with his wife Umm Sayyaf and an unidentified Yazidi woman who they rescued, along with collected communications gear.  

 

From Syria, we're moving to Boston, Massachusetts. A federal jury there unanimously decided last week to sentence Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for his crimes. It's the first time since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. that the death penalty has been handed down in a terrorism case.  

 

A CNN legal analyst says he expects Tsarnaev's lawyers to appeal the sentence and then that process could take years, but he does expect the death penalty eventually will be carried out.

 

One thing that makes it's so hard to get around Nepal after a series of earthquakes there is the terrain of the country itself. It's mountainous.  There are a lot of villages that are hard to reach, and aide workers from all over the world are taking risks to help.  

 

The Nepalese military says it found the U.S. Marine Corps helicopter that crashed last week while helping with relief efforts. Officials don't know yet what caused the accident. 

 

On Thursday, we flew over the rugged, mountainous terrain east of Kathmandu. We saw villages devastated by the earthquakes, villages full of people the marines were trying to help. 

 

Six U.S. Marines and two Nepali soldiers died in these mountains.

 

"They were courageous. They were selfless individuals dedicated..."

 

Their commander pledging to continue the humanitarian mission and learned why the Marine chopper went down. Their families beginning to share their stories.  

 

Lance Corporal Jake Hug from Phoenix, Arizona, was a combat photographer. His cousin tells CNN affiliate KTVK, Hug was documenting the earthquake relief efforts.

 

"My name is Captain Lukasiewicz, and we stand with Nepal."

 

Captain Lukasiewicz was just featured in this Defense Department video describing the U.S. mission.  

 

"So, we were able to deliver some rice, potatoes and tarps out to smaller villages just the east of Kathmandu, areas that are more difficult to get to via any sort of ground transportation."

 

These men and the others added to a growing list of earthquake-related casualties, eight heroes who gave their lives for the people of Nepal. Will Ripley, CNN, Kathmandu, Nepal.