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Manhunt Widens After Possible Sighting; Authorities: Convicts Used Power Tools to Escape; Mosul Refugees Call ISIS an "Illness"; Australian Football Boss Says World Cup Bid Was Clean; MERS Outbreak Grows in South Korea; Police Accused of Excessive Force in Salinas, California; Threat Close Parts of White House, Capitol Hill; Man Held 40 Years in Solitary to Stay in Jail 2 More Days; Putin Visits Pope Francis at Vatican; 6 Year Old Brings Down House with "Respect." Aired 1-2a ET

Aired June 9, 2015 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:28] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Killers on the loose. Still no sign of two dangerous fugitives. Investigator now focusing on who could help them break out of prison.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Growing fears. South Korea trying to contain the outbreak and panic as the MERS virus continues to spread.

BARNETT: Exceptional circumstances. He spent 43 years in solitaire confinement. Now a judge ordered his release. We'll look at what is next for Albert Woodfox.

ASHER: A warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Zain Asher.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

A civilian prison worker may have played a key role in the escape of two convicted murders still on the loose, possibly in upstate New York. A source says Joyce Mitchell planned to pick up the inmates after they escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility, but for some reason changed her mind later.

ASHER: Authorities also say someone used Mitchell's cell phone to make calls to several people connected to one of the fugitives. It's not clear if Mitchell knew her phone was being used.

Jason Carroll has more on the search for Richard Matt and David Sweat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heavily armed police, many in body armor, scouring farms and fields as they search the small town of Willsboro, New York. Someone spotted two suspicious men walking down the street in the middle of a storm over night. As the car approached, the two took off. Willsboro is about 35 miles southeast of Dannemora (ph), where Richard Matt and David Sweat staged their daring prison break almost four days ago. A law enforcement source tells CNN it appears the two did not have a getaway car get waiting for them and may have been traveling on foot.

But investigators believe they had help, and they have questioned Joyce Mitchell, an employee. She worked with the men in the prison's tailor shop. "NBC News" reports a day after the escape, Mitchell checked herself in to a hospital complaining of a case of nerves. Mitchell's son defending her, telling the network, his mother is not going to risk her life or other people's lives to help these guys escape.

The two convicted killers may have been spotted a short time after crawling out of a manhole a block from the prison wall.

"ABC News" spoke to one couple who says they think they ran in to Matt and Sweat about a half hour after midnight early Saturday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One guy had a guitar case on his back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A guitar case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A guitar case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black guitar case.

CARROLL: They even challenged the strangers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I go look at him and ask him what the hell are you doing in my yard? Get the hell out of here. And he was like, sorry, I didn't know where I was. I'm on the wrong street.

CARROLL: A former prison worker talked about how hard it would be to navigate inside the 170-year-old prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER PRISON WORKER: So many tunnels. All the attics, all the catwalks, it's a big maze.

CARROLL (on camera): They used that maze.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER PRISON WORKER: They used the maze. They knew exactly where to go. They had help.

CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, Willsboro New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Both men have incredibly violent histories. Richard Matt was serving 25 years to life for murder, kidnap and robbery. David Sweat was sentenced to life without parole for killing a sheriff's deputy.

BARNETT: These men are dangerous.

A former U.S. Marshal spoke to CNN about their possible state of mind. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FORMER U.S. MARSHAL: Heinous crimes these individuals committed to get where they were in the first place, they are -- we have to consider them armed and dangerous. You have to also remember, they have been out four days. If they have been walking through the woods, psychologically and mentally, they have to be completely drained at this point. They are either going to act like sort of a cornered animal, and I think in this case, with this background, or they are going to give up and say, hey, I'm tired, whipped, that's it, I'm done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Keep in mind they were in a maximum security prison.

(CROSSTALK)

ASHER: A maze. Those tunnels there are a maze, as we heard. It's incredible they managed to figure their way out of that maze through the manhole cover to the outside world.

[01:04:57] BARNETT: Precisely. Investigators saying they certainly had help breaking out of prison. They cut walls through that were reinforced steel and escaped through a maze of tunnels and pipes.

ASHER: Brazen, indeed. Authorities are trying to figure out how they got the power tools needed to make their escape.

Here's our Stephanie Elam with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERNIE PENUELLAS, IRONWORKER: Whoever did it has some knowledge of how to use tools.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ernie Penuellas has been an ironwork wither nearly 30 years and says there's no doubt that Richard Matt and David Sweat used power tools to break through the walls of their prison cells.

PENUELLAS: First of all, it's made of steel. So you have to have some sort of a tool to cut it.

ELAM (on camera): When you look at that picture, what do you think they used to cut through the wall?

PENUELLAS: Cut off wheel, basically a grinder with a thinner wheel on it made to cut through steel.

ELAM: Show us what that would look and sound like.

(voice-over): Using this grinder, it took him a minute to cut this straight line through this steel plate.

(on camera): A, I took my ear plug out to listen. It's really loud.

PENUELLAS: Extremely loud. ELAM: B, it smells like it has a distinct odor.

PENUELLAS: Yeah.

ELAM: Do you think this is something they could get away with under those circumstances?

PENUELLAS: Somebody would have to try to ignore them. The smell gets on your clothes and skins. You have to actually wash it off.

ELAM (voice-over): After cutting holes in their cell walls, authorities say they managed to break through a break wall two feet thick and cut in to a pipe that led outside of the prison.

(on camera): Is there any way you could buffer the sound of these tools if you were operating them?

PENUELLAS: Perhaps, maybe by laying blankets around the object. Just working the tool slowly.

ELAM: It would be tedious.

PENUELLAS: It would take a long time.

ELAM (voice-over): Investigators believe Matt and Sweat then crawled 400 feet through a pipe that was 24 inches in diameter.

PENUELLAS: Cuts are pretty clean.

ELAM (on camera): So in the time it took you to create that one line with the grinder you did a circle around with the torch --

PENUELLAS: With the torch.

ELAM: -- and it is so much quieter.

PENUELLAS: A lot quieter.

ELAM: And not as much smell.

PENUELLAS: Not as much.

ELAM: But there is a problem, the equipment.

(voice-over): A torch would require tanks of mixed gases.

(on camera): If you were breaking out of jail, you would rather have a torch?

PENUELLAS: Absolutely.

ELAM (voice-over): Stephanie Elam, CNN, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: That was good context there. I was wondering how nobody in the prison heard them if the tools were so loud. But Stephanie gave us good context. Many thanks to her.

A senior U.S. official says the White House is considering sending 500 additional forces to Iraq, most of them would train and advise Iraqi troops.

BARNETT: The announcement comes amid new violence in Baghdad. At least two people were killed when a car bomb exploded on a busy street. The video appears to show the aftermath of the attack but CNN cannot verify the authenticity. At least seven were injured.

ASHER: Now to Mosul. Iraq's second-largest city and has been under ISIS control for a year now.

BARNETT: Many residents fled the city and many have been living in misery ever since.

Our Ben Wedeman reports now from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once upon a time, it was a school. Now it's a home, of sorts, for 48 Christian families who fled Mosul, now a year under ISIS's control.

In the school's makeshift kitchen, Merial Karim (ph) appeals to anyone that can help them.

"Find a solution for us. It's enough," she says. "We're tired."

What's the solution?

"I don't know," she replies. "Either they take us out of here or send us home. Do we have to stay in this school or in a tent?"

They have all applied without luck so far to emigrate.

"We're finished," says Linda Jenan (ph). "Our future, our children, our men have been destroyed. We're too afraid to go out and find work. If only someone outside of Iraq would let us emigrate. We have no hope left here."

(voice-over): They live off private donations and some help from international relief groups.

Mosul fell to ISIS a year ago. Since then, these people have moved from one place to another ending up here in this empty school in Baghdad. When they look back over the events of the last year, most of them say they don't think they'll ever return home.

(voice-over): In better days, Mosul was a half day's easy drive from Baghdad. Today, under ISIS, it might as well be on the far side of the moon.

Iraqi army veteran, Yuel Shoka (ph) scoffs at the chances of ever going back.

"One in a hundred, one in a million," he says.

He fought the Iranians. He fought the Americans. But ISIS is an enemy of a different order.

"It's an illness," he tells me. "It is impossible to cure. Cancer can be cured, tuberculosis can be cured, almost every illness can be cured, not this one."

(SHOUTING)

WEDEMAN: After the fall of Mosul, ISIS pushed Iraqi forces out of large areas of Iraq. Some towns like Tikrit and Baiji have been retaken but others like Ramadi last month have fallen to ISIS.

From their school-turned-home, these refugees from Mosul can only hope the tide somehow turns or a door opens for them somewhere far, far away.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:10:42] ASHER: Another one of the 14 men under U.S. indictment in the FIFA corruption case surrendered to Italian authorities. Alejandro Burzaco is an Argentine marketing executive accused of paying bribes for media rights.

BARNETT: Meantime, former FIFA vice president, Jack Warner, is blasting the U.S. in an editorial in his own newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. He accuses the U.S. of racism and says he cannot get a fair trial there. U.S. prosecutors allege Warner took millions of dollars in bribes.

ASHER: And the head of Australian's football federation maintains his country's bid for the World Cup was clean. Frank Lowy explained the FAA's $500,000 donation for a Center of Excellence in Warner's nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK LOWY, CHAIRMAN, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION: I have never spoken to Warner about the subject. It was with always done at the level of the executives of both areas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No conversation with Jack Warner about this?

LOWRY: No conversation with Jack Warner about this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he talks about an avalanche of secrets he's sitting on, this is not one of them.

LOWRY: I have no concern about that. And I have made no offer to him. I have not negotiated with him. It was people from Australia, the executives of FIFA, and they hired an expert to advise on what needs to be done, and we provided the funds for the planning.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT: More of the world's biggest stories coming up. South Korea is trying to stay one step ahead of the growing MERS outbreak. What they are doing next, in a live report.

ASHER: And White House reporters are told to get out of the press room. We'll have details on the threat made in Washington. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:16:31] ASHER: South Korea is battling a growing outbreak of MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, that's claiming more lives daily.

BARNETT: It's frightening. In addition to the virus, the officials say they are grappling with public fear of MERS. The nation has been hit hard by the virus with the largest number of cases outside of Saudi Arabia where it was first discovered.

CNN senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, is joining us now from Hong Kong with more details on this.

Ivan, I'm wondering how they are splitting up some of the medical centers and hospitals now since all of the cases were, in fact, contracted in medical facilities?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's basically -- you have it exactly right. Of the some 33439 people that have been quarantined. All of them contracted the disease, the virus in hospitals. Almost all of them elderly or senior citizens with the exception of one teenager. So the world health organization has warned that it is the elderly and people with existing illnesses that are more vulnerable to this disease. The South Korean government has announced. It is establishing some 48 what it describes as safe clinics. Basically, places to go if you are suspected of possibly having MERS and you want to be tested. And if you have a confirmed case, there's some 16 institutions for people to be treated at. The government ordered that some 3,000 schools be closed also as a preventative measure. To illustrate how -- or to demonstrate how the government is trying to both take the outbreak seriously but not to try to spread panic, the South Korean president has just announced she's postponing a trip next week to Washington to help deal with this MERS outbreak. Again, we have to warn, that only 109 people have contracted -- 108 rather, have contracted the virus thus far -- Errol?

BARNETT: So relatively speaking, it's a small number of people we are seeing over the past few weeks the number of deaths, confirmed cases and those quarantined it is slowly creeping up. Hong Kong recently issued a red alert for outbound travel to South Korea, meaning there's a significant threat there. How confident is the South Korean government that it has a real handle on this, and how is it communicating that confidence?

WATSON: For example, it has just created a new website with updates on the MERS outbreak. The world health organization has sent a delegation to South Korea to help work hand in hand with the South Korean authorities dealing with this.

What are some of the additional measures? For example, South Korea has announced all patients with pneumonia at hospitals throughout Korea should be tested, in addition for MERS. That's another measure taken. You mentioned the alerts that the Hong Kong authorities had put out. Part of that is prompted by the fact that Hong Kong had a very difficult and tragic experience with the SARS outbreak in 2003 where hundreds of people who contracted the illness succumb to it and died. They are particularly on alert about this, even though not a single person has contracted MERS in Hong Kong, thus far. They have implemented some new measures at the airport to test people coming in from South Korea for any symptoms potentially of MERS.

It's worth noting, MERS, there's no known vaccine for the illness. There's no known treatment. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, said treatment is of the symptoms, and that involves pain relievers, treatment of fever, fluids and rest. Those are the best measures to treat people, thus far. The World Health Organization going one step further. It has indicated that it does not seem to be a highly communicative disease between people. It is more between animals and people, in particular camels. So it has advised people for instance to eat camel meat or unpasteurized camel milk or drink camel urine which is probably unlikely in South Korea. But it is also advised that measures have to be put in to place in the hospitals in South Korea. For instance, surgical masks and our reporters on the ground in Seoul have said within the last week they have seen pharmacies selling out, for example, of surgical masks, of hand sanitizers. But it's important not to spread panic while dealing with this outbreak.

[01:21:35] BARNETT: Right. That's the key. The government of course doing what it can to not allow it to spread any further. This already the largest outbreak outside of Saudi Arabia.

Ivan Watson, thanks for that update for us from Hong Kong.

Zain?

ASHER: Errol, former U.S. House speaker, Dennis Hastert, has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to his alleged cover-up of sexual misconduct with former students. Hastert is accused of lying to federal investigators and hiding bank transactions to pay $3.5 million to in hush money to one of his alleged victims. The judge agreed to release him on $4500 bond and barred from carrying firearms, had to surrender his passport and provide a DNA sample.

A Texas police officer caught on video throwing a teenager girl to the ground at a pool party has now resigned. Eric Casebolt has not been charged but his case remains under investigation. Just shocking this video.

BARNETT: Police were responding to calls about a fight when the incident occurred on Friday. The city's police chief called Casebolt's actions indefensible.

ASHER: And another shocking police encounter to tell you about. This one also caught in a video. This one in Salinas, California.

BARNETT: Right. The police chief admits the images are horrific. Officers beating a suspect, who they say shoved his mother into a busy street.

ASHER: Let's take a look here at the cell phone video captured by a witness. Just incredible. Police say they had to use their batons to get control over 28-year-old Jose Velasco because he was high on drugs and violently resisting arrest. But the video is hard to watch still.

BARNETT: The suspect's mother was not seriously injured in the incident. She says he suffers from mental illness and the police passed judgment on what they saw instead, she says, of listening to her son's cry for help.

Earlier, I spoke to the Salinas police chief and asked him if he was comfortable with the amount of force used in this incident.

Here's a portion of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY MCMILLIN, CHIEF, SALINAS POLICE CHIEF (voice-over): In fact, the officers who responded tried to use their tasers three times before understanding that they were being ineffective on him. So they were used. In the course of the struggle, subsequent to the attempts to tase him he was actually able to reach up to an officer and physically tear his taser and the holster off of his gun belt.

BARNETT: This man beaten to submission, Jose Velasco, is Latino. Back in 2014, your department was involved in some four shooting deaths of coincidentally Latino men. How are you and your force addressing concerns of locals there that generally speaking your force is heavy handed?

MCMILLIN: One of the things that we understand here in Salinas, there's a long history of distrust between police and community members. In a community like Salinas that happens to be 74 percent Latino, we understand that some of that distrust could originate locally, some of it could be brought from native countries, and we are doing a variety of things and have even before the officer-involved shootings of 2014 to work closely with the community and we have developed some strong ties therein. Of course, these incidents do cause challenges and make us refocus our efforts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:05] ASHER: U.S. Secret Service officials say they cannot discuss any potential connection between bomb threats made against the White House and Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

So these threats were taken seriously enough to force evacuations. A scary day in D.C.

Joe Johns has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sources say the dual threats called in within two hours of each other were specific enough to cause police to evacuate Senators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in an orderly fashion, please exit as quickly as possible.

JOHNS: And parts of the West Wing at the White House. The first threat came in just after 12:30 during a Senate Homeland Security hearing, during testimony about the concerns about safety of TSA screening at airports, causing Senators, staffers and witnesses to flee the room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please evacuate.

JOHNS: Less than two hours later, just after 2:00 p.m., as the White House press secretary was answering questions from reporters, more chaos. Reporters being told to leave immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Evacuate the area.

JOHNS: As CNN and other networks covered the evacuation live, Secret Service agents with bomb-sniffing dogs could be seen sweeping the press briefing room until someone covered TV cameras. The all clear was called and briefing resumed with few answers.

(on camera): Tonight, the White House said the president was never in danger but is yet to explain why neither Mr. Obama nor his staff were evacuated, especially if the threat was serious enough to clear out part of the West Wing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Joe Johns there.

The Secret Service says the decision to evacuate just the press room was due to the specific nature of the threat.

ASHER: We'll take a quick break. And when we come back new developments in the case of a U.S. inmate seeking his freedom after more than 40 years, 40 years in solitaire confinement.

BARNETT: Plus, President Putin heads for the Vatican. We will preview his meeting with the pope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:31] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you for staying with us. You are watching "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Errol Barnett.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Asher.

Let's give you the headlines at this hour.

Authorities in New York State have yet to find two convicted murders who escaped from prison over the weekend. Authorities say prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, planned to pick up the escapees but changed her mind. She is reportedly cooperating with authorities.

BARNETT: South Korea's president is postponing her trip to the U.S. on Sunday so she can oversee her country's response to the growing MERS outbreak. Officials say the disease has killed nine people in South Korea and the number of confirmed cases there has risen to 180. So far, 3400 people are under quarantine.

ASHER: A senior U.S. official says the White House is considering sending 500 additional forces to Iraq to help in the fight against ISIS. Most of them will train and advise Iraqi troops. They are currently just over 3,000 U.S. forces in Iraq.

BARNETT: Now to a story getting a lot of attention.

ASHER: Definitely.

BARNETT: A U.S. man who spent more than four decades in solitaire confinement will remain there two more days. This is after the Louisiana attorney general's office was granted an emergency stay blocking the release of Albert Woodfox. An appeals court granted the stay until least Friday.

ASHER: The 68-year-old is the last imprisoned member of the so-called Angola Three, accused of the 1972 killing of a prison guard. He was convicted twice but both convictions have since been overturned. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations have labeled Woodfox's imprisonment inhumane because of the length of time he spent in solitaire confinement.

BARNETT: Studies have shown that prolonged periods of solitaire confinement can cause mental and physical breakdowns, even mental illness.

We want to speak about this in depth so we have invited psychologist, Dr. Erik Fisher, to join us here at the CNN Center.

Because you hear about a man who spent 40 years in solitaire confinement, there is legal wrangling if and when he will get out. If he does get out what kind of life could he face? What psychologically, trapped in a 6x9 foot cell do to him?

DR. ERIK FISHER, PSYCHOLOGIST: First, when you look at studies on confinement, there are several conditions. One is, first, people consent to do studies. They are in there 10 days, is one of the long term studies. They found there isn't long-term deficits of that. But when you look at long term, years and years, months, let alone years, you are talking about somebody who has sensory deprivation issue, cognitive function is decreased, EEG results of confinement show decreased brain activity over just a few months confinement. When you look at the complications of years of that, depression, anxiety, anger outbursts and rage outbursts. You have physical complications. People with pre-morbid conditions usually have complication of those illnesses and hallucinations and delusions.

BARNETT: Wow.

FISHER: Sometimes when people get out, some of their symptoms abate but their ability to reconnect to people is hampered. This is similar to attachment disorders in children who have been raised in orphanages and haven't had human contact. We are social animals and we connect. That's an important aspect to look at.

ASHER: Walk us through the process of rehabilitating someone like that in to society, reintroducing them to society. What therapy should they undergo?

FISHER: Unfortunately, what happens is people who go through this situation, there's usually no rehabilitation or reintegration. In this situation, he may be released and put back into society. Because, well, OK, sorry, you know, how they work that out sometimes. But this person needs serious therapy. They need to be thoroughly evaluated to see what's happened to them emotionally, cognitively, their relationships and attachments, and then be slowly re-integrated with people because --

(CROSSTALK)

ASHER: It's a process. You have to do it slowly.

FISHER: Absolutely.

Even with the sensory, issues being around a few people can be overwhelming, let alone crowds of people.

BARNETT: So considering -- it sounds like it breaks you as a human to be stuck in a place for such a long amount of time and you study there are limited amount of studies. Why do we confine people? Why is that an appropriate punishment? I don't know if you can speak to that. But what does that to anybody?

[01:35:06] FISHER: When we do time outs with kids we sent them to their room and we think it gives them time to think about things, and hopefully they will work through their problems.

BARNETT: And change their behavior.

FISHER: Exactly. Here's someone that's done something bad. If we put them in isolation, maybe they will think about it. And the longer you put them in, maybe they will change. But there are no positive studies as a result of confinement. There's more negative outcomes. There's an increase in violence in prisons when people are released from solitary confinement and more outbreaks of physical violence than those in general population.

(CROSSTALK)

FISHER: So increases --

(CROSSTALK)

ASHER: So we know that Woodfox was allowed to exercise, watch television. And he was allowed I believe one hour a day to walk outside. Does that change anything in terms of his ability to rehabilitate back into society? Does that help? How much does it help?

FISHER: I don't believe it helps that much because it's the human interaction, the conversations back and forth, the ability to allow yourself to reflect off of somebody else and have them feedback to you, as well as human touch. Touching somebody is important. You don't get that in solitaire confine. One hour a day is meaningless.

ASHER: Think of how lucky we are to interact and have social interactions every day.

BARNETT: You say no net benefit to these confinements based on studies.

Dr. Erik Fisher, psychologist --

ASHER: Thank you.

BARNETT: -- Thank you for coming down the CNN Center. Appreciate it.

FISHER: My pleasure.

ASHER: Thank you so much.

Let's turn to another story. A quick break on that note. Russia's president is set to meet with Pope Francis in a few hours. We will look at Russia's small Roman Catholic minority.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:40:05] ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. In eastern Ukraine, fighting rages between the government and pro Russian separatist despite a cease fire that's been in place since February.

BARNETT: Earlier, Ukraine's prime minister spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Arseniy Yatsenyuk praised U.S. efforts to end the fighting. He demanded stepped up international efforts to oust Russian forces from his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARSENIY YATSENYUK, UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translation): I want to be very clear. More than 10,000 Russian military boots are on the Ukrainian soil. In addition, about 30,000 of Russian-led terrorists trained by the Russian army.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What's it going to take to get rid of them?

YATSENYUK (through translation): Well, we expect the so-called Mintz deal would be a good way to deescalate the situation. In order to make this solution viable and in order to implement the Mintz deal, we need diplomatic efforts with strong durable Ukrainian military and we need to retain unity between the E.U. and U.S. and to act, boldly, wisely, and in concert with the Russian-led aggression. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The fighting in Ukraine is expected to top the agenda when Russia President Vladimir Putin meets with Pope Francis in the Vatican a few hours from now.

BARNETT: That's right. They are expected to discuss a possible visit by the pope to Moscow. Russia is home to a relatively small number of Catholics.

Matthew Chance has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At mass in central Moscow, a rare glimpse of a Russian religious minority.

(SINGING)

CHANCE: The sanctuary's Russia's Roman Catholics have kept a low profile, often viewed by their Orthodox countrymen with mistrust as outsiders in their own land.

UNIDENTIFIED ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: We don't feel we have to prove something to someone. We are just there. We are there for a very long time. So, even if some people here in Russia think we came from somewhere, that we are aliens. We don't think this is true.

CHANCE: But it is true that tensions with the Russian authorities have frequently surfaced. Church officials say Roman Catholic missionaries and priests have had visas revoked for minor infractions and the church faces a general atmosphere of unfriendliness.

(on camera): This is, of course, the world's biggest Christian denomination. Here in Russia, Roman Catholicism is a tiny minority, less than 1 percent of the population. Many Russians want it to stay that way. Some Catholics say they are often seen as foreign agents, unwelcome in a mainly Orthodox Russia.

(voice-over): But there's hope that could now start to change. The pope and the Russian president have met before in 2013. This time, the Kremlin says further contacts will be discussed, fuelling speculation a first papal visit to Russia maybe explored.

Father Carole told me that may help to heal the rift between the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

UNIDENTIFIED ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: I think the pope brings with him a certain craze charisma of love and understanding of invitation to dialogue and I very much hope when one day the pope will come to Russia the same miracle will happen.

CHANCE: A miracle that may bring Russia and the West closer together as well. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: A quick break here on CNN. More news around the world when we come back. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[1:48:02] ASHER: We've been telling you about Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Let's turn to John Allen, Vatican analyst. He is on the phone from Denver, Colorado.

John, thank you for being with us.

In terms of getting Putin out of Ukraine, the G-7 hasn't persuaded him to get out of Ukraine, the sanctions haven't, the cease fires haven't. Do we really think Pope Francis is going to make a difference here?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST (voice-over): Well, I think it is reasonable to believe Pope Francis will take a shot at it. Bear in mind, there's a significant Greek Catholic minority in the Ukraine, which is maybe 10 percent of the population. In terms of the role that it plays in social and cultural life, it is very important and the patriarch of that church is a personal friend of Pope Francis, because prior to this assignment, he was the head of the Greek Catholic community in Argentina and became a close personal friend of the future pope there.

Certainly I think it is reasonable to believe that Pope Francis will raise this issue with Vladimir Putin and try to press him on it. But as you indicate, there are relatively few forces that to date have appeared to have much impact on Putin's decision making. I suppose it remains to be seen whether Pope Francis is going to make any real difference. Although it probably should be said that he is one of the few world leaders with which Putin has had a constructive relationship prior to this point on a variety of issues from Syria to Christians in the Middle East to Cuba. Pope Francis and Putin have actually found ways to do business with one another. Perhaps Pope Francis can draw on some of that in his session with Putin tomorrow.

[01:50:12] ASHER: I'm curious to see how much diplomatic influence Pope Francis will have this time around. So we know that Vladimir Putin last met Pope Francis in November of 2013. And bear in mind, this was before the crisis in Ukraine. In terms of tone, specifically in terms of tone, how much different will this meeting be from the last one?

ALLEN: Well, I mean, the last time that Pope Francis and Putin got together the most important topic of conversation was Syria. And the two men largely saw eye to eye. Bear in mind, that shortly after his election in 2013, Pope Francis found himself in a situation in which most of the major Western powers -- the United States, Great Britain, France -- were contemplating using force in Syria to try to bring the regime of al-Assad, at that time on the basis of allegations that Assad had used sarin gas against his own people. Putin was of course opposed to that because he's a major patron of the Assad regime and so was Pope Francis. The two found themselves on the same side at what was the major gee mow political issue in the world. That background, that history I think gives Pope Francis some goodwill to draw upon trying to make the case for a more benign policy in Ukraine.

ASHER: The world has certainly changed since their last meeting. It's interesting because Catholics only make up 1 percent of Russia.

John Allen, live in Denver, Colorado. John Allen, thank you so much. We appreciate that.

BARNETT: Atlanta got walloped with a storm today.

ASHER: Yes, I felt it.

BARNETT: Wet weather. Strong storms are moving across the southwest U.S. at this hour.

Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is joining us to talk about who is being walloped with what?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Heavy rainfall we had reports of tornados in the southwestern U.S. That we will touch on. Spectacular photo out of that region we will share with you. This is beneficial rainfall and unusual. The month of June as you may know is usually dry. The month of June for parts of the southwest is the driest time of the year. The moisture is much needed and coming in a dry time of the year. They didn't see much of it in the January and Februaries of the world, the wettest time of the year. The drought monitor, seeing extreme drought locked in place across the central valley of California. Severe and moderate drought in Arizona. The steering currents in the atmosphere where you want them. Over southern California, moisture from a Tropical Depression Blanca left in place, made landfall over the Mexican Baja a couple of days ago. Usually until September and October latter portion of the summer season is when you see the tropical moisture interact with the southwest. Certainly present. You see the scattered thunderstorms in around Flagstaff, i-40 core do, to the West around northern California. Sacramento Valley, Sacramento, in to San Francisco and Reno scattered showers and the rainfall and flood warnings have been in place. This is coming off of what has been the wettest single month in recorded history in the United States. The map shows the green. 200 to 500 percent above normal when it comes to the amount of rainfall that came down over the month of May.

Here's the perspective I want to leave you. The camera operator can show the super cell. Two tornados. One on the right corner of the screen and one on the Western side, or the left corner, center of the screen. Impressive sight and one in a million shot.

BARNETT: Stunning.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely.

BARNETT: Thanks for that.

JAVAHERI: You bet.

ASHER: Good job.

Finally, before we leave you tonight, a show-stopping performance that's taken social media by storm.

(CROSSTALK)

ASHER: A gorgeous 6-year-old girl brought down the House at her dance recital with her fabulous rendition of "Respect" by Aretha Franklin.

BARNETT: The video has 33 million views on Facebook --

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: Jeanne Moos has more on this tiny, sassy dancer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If diva moves don't move you --

(SINGING)

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: -- you probably can't spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

(SINGING)

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

MOOS: She's been getting more than little bit. 6-year-old Johanna Colon from Raleigh, North Carolina, has audiences cheering, blogs bowing and hosts paying homage.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: She's got good feet but the magic's up top.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Finally, we get to meet the magic seated next to her dance teacher. Johanna speaks.

UNIDENTIFIED DANCE TEACHER: Johanna, you stopped the show at your dance recital. That was amazing.

MOOS: OK. She didn't speak much. But what she said was memorable.

UNIDENTIFIED DANCE TEACHER: What were you thinking when you were doing that routine?

JOHANNA COLON, 6-YEAR-OLD DANCER: I thought I was really spicy.

(SINGING)

MOOS: That's Johanna's dad saluting her spiciness. But she seems unfazed by sudden fame.

Her mom Johanna was more excited about the end of the school year and the ice cream she got as a reward for her excellent report card.

MOOS: Johanna started to dance when she was 2. "Definitely, one of a kind," said her dance teacher.

UNIDENTIFIED DANCE TEACHER: So humble and always so caring.

MOOS: Taking special care of her 3-year-old brother, C.J., who was born with an intestinal disorder that's required more than 30 hospitalizations and surgeries.

At times Johanna "out Aretha's" Aretha.

(SINGING)

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

MOOS: Even when it was time to take a bow, what Johanna wants, Johanna gets.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: And she means it with all due respect. Encore!

(SINGING)

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(SINGING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BARNETT: Show us the moves, Asher. Come on.

(LAUGHTER)

ASHER: Thank you for watching, everyone. I'm Zain Asher.

What you want?

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett.

Zain is heading off. I will be back next hour with Rosemary Church with more CNN NEWSROOM.

Stay with CNN.

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