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NEWS STREAM

Ukrainian Ministry Starts Offensive In Slovyansk; Chinese Families Of MH370 Passengers Told To Go Home; Interview with Brazil Football Sensation Neymar; Rains Pound Southeastern U.S.; Interview with Amanda Knox; ISIS Using Crucifixion Imagery To Terrorize Syrian Residents

Aired May 02, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


AMARA WALKER, HOST: I'm Amara Walker at CNN Center. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

A helicopter lies in flames in Ukraine as fighting between government forces and pro-Russia separatists intensifies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA KNOX: I -- I did not kill my friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Amanda Knox maintains her innocence in an exclusive interview with CNN.

And Brazilian football star Neymar tells us he will be ready for the World Cup.

And we begin with a major escalation of the crisis in Ukraine. The government in Kiev has launched what appears to be its biggest military operation yet to oust pro-Russian militants from the east. Now its focus on the towns of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.

According to the Russian state media, President Vladimir Putin has condemned the operation, calling it, quote, "a criminal act."

Slovyansk is one of several towns where separatists have taken control of key government buildings. In a video statement posted on YouTube, the self-declared mayor of Slovyansk says the city is being stormed and that there are casualties.

Now residents in Slovyansk have been warned to stay home and avoid windows. Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has been covering the story there on the ground. And here's what he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, here from a hilltop just outside Slovyansk you can see the city below me. And at this stage, it is calm. Despite what happened at dawn this morning, the first I think real intensive effort by the Ukrainian military to try and move in around the town.

Now, we see down below us here there is on one of the roads going in about eight to 10 Ukrainian armored personnel carriers, a number of individuals on that road. And apparently, according to one local resident, there are locals who have come out to talk with them.

As I stand here, we're hearing an aircraft pass over us in the sky. And last night, we saw a number of Ukrainian military helicopters moving around and another attack helicopter moving along the main highway into Slovyansk early on this morning.

The Ukrainian interior minister says that nine checkpoints around this town have now been taken by Ukrainian security personnel. As we can't vouch for that, and in the past they have exaggerated their success when it comes to moving in against Slovyansk.

In the center of the town, the spokeswoman for the self-declared administration says there were gunshots in the center, but now most of the reports we're hearing are of quiet. And I think the concern now is exactly what comes in the hours ahead.

The Ukrainian security personnel stay where they are and risk, perhaps, attack from pro-Russian militants, incurring the wrath of locals. We do hear that some residents simply don't want them there at this point. And that would match a lot of the fervor we heard inside Slovyansk against pro-Kiev authorities. Or do they stay where they are? Is this about encircling the town, a tactic which Kiev promised to do quite a while back.

We've also heard from the Ukrainian interior minister that a helicopter near here has been shot down, a pilot killed. Suggestions of another helicopter may have been forced to make an emergency landing, and even reports that perhaps a pilot has been captured by these pro-Russian militants.

But there's a major concern here that's a lot of misinformation flying around, a lot of it being used to stoke feelings on both sides. And I think people are worried in the hours ahead that that misinformation, all the sense of anger growing here could cause reports, or even instances of bloodshed. All eyes still on the Russian troops on the other side of the border. The consistent statements from the Kremlin, they will intervene if they see their compatriots being attacked, or their rights violated.

Kiev's clear statement, they think they're losing control of the east. This is perhaps a bid to try and answer that admission. And we really have to see if this is the beginning of a much deeper and worse escalation for what's happening here in eastern Ukraine or if this is, as we've seen in the past, another attempt by Kiev to assert control here that ultimately falters.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Slovyansk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, let's go to the eastern city of Donetsk now where a day ago there were violent clashes between pro-Russian activists and riot police. Our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins me live now. And Arwa, we heard from Nick Paton Walsh's piece there that Kiev says it has regained control of these nine checkpoints, but overall is it apparent that Kiev is still losing control in the east?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they nine barricades that the central government says they do control are about two hours away from where we are right now in Donetsk. The territory in Eastern Ukraine that is under the control of a pro-Russian camp is incredibly vast and large.

We are seeing that military operation underway perhaps as part of an effort by Kiev to try to begin to reinsert itself, because as we have been seeing repeatedly every single day, the pro-Russian camp gains even more control over various buildings throughout. The most recent one being the prosecutor's office that they took over yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: The crowd chants shame, shame at a police officer being led away by pro-Russian militants. In the courtyard, the humiliating retreat of the rest of the force as the pro-Russian camp now firmly in control of the prosecutor's office in Donetsk, ransacked the building.

Now we're being kicked out, but one of the men who we were talking to were saying that they were going through every single office looking for people who might be hiding out here.

The prosecutor's office was attacked with gunfire, small grenades and stones. Riot police responding with teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets.

This is what the first floor of the prosecutor's office looks like. And now everything -- the furniture covered with this thin coat of white foam from a fire extinguisher. We had heard initial reports that Molotov cocktails were thrown through the windows, but this right now is the new authority.

Taking over this building, we are told, is part of their strategy to conduct a referendum on May 11 with one key question for now, not do you want to join Russia, but do you want to have a federal state.

Svetlana, a supporter, says this -- taking over by force was the only way they could make their voices heard.

Are you worried -- I mean, because this also is -- I mean, no one is in control right now.

"It's not chaos," she says. "We are doing this because this is my republic. You can see this is my republic. I want to live in an independent country."

But with or without independence, at this stage Kiev has already lost control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: Of course the big challenge for Kiev trying to regain control over those various buildings is their location, a lot of them in residential areas, or at the very center of the cities. If the military does, in fact, end up finding itself trying to use force, pushing into these key locations, the great concern is the potential for more bloodshed that is very real and very much on people's minds at this stage.

WALKER: Arwa, we saw in your piece there riot police present. There was a standoff. So how quickly were the pro-Russian separatists able to seize control of this prosecutor building?

DAMON: Fairly quickly, within an hour or so they were able to push the riot police from the front of the building into the building itself and then out of the back courtyard. The footage that you saw there with the police officers, some of them being led off through that crowd, others just being pushed out of the building itself.

And additionally, not only were they pushed off the premises, but some of the riot policemen even had their shields taken from them, their protective gear taken from them by these pro-Russian militants.

Interestingly, though, that is one of the rare occasions where we have actually seen the authorities try to put up something of a fight. But of course as you saw in that piece -- and we have been seeing throughout all of this, even when they do make something of a weak attempt to try to hold their ground, they do end up losing it fairly quickly to the pro-Russian camp.

WALKER: Yeah. And we do now have Russia calling this offensive by Kiev a criminal act.

Arwa Damon with the latest there in Donetsk. Arwa, thank you.

Well, after eight weeks of searching for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, officials warn it could take another eight months or more. The Bluefin submersible has now completed 18 missions without finding any debris underwater. The vessel operating, it is now heading back to port for fresh supplies.

The chief search coordinator says he still believes that teams are looking in the right place.

Relatives of the missing passengers are now heading home without the answers they so desperately want. Let's bring in David McKenzie from Beijing now. And David, they've been effectively told to leave. Are these families concerned that they won't be able to keep up the pressure on officials and get the daily communication, or at least a little bit of what they've been getting?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't know, you raise a good point because I think families are concerned that they weren't necessarily have the leverage that they've had over these weeks in that hotel, but they do believe, I think, that they will be able to communicate with each other and potentially also with Malaysian airline authorities.

I think what's kind of broke the impasse here in Beijing was that the Chinese government appeared to be on the side, at least tacitly, of the Malaysians in terms of getting them out. And also providing them with assurances -- providing the family members with assurances that they won't be forgotten. They've also told family members they'll provide legal assistance once they get home to help them in any cases against Malaysian airlines and the Malaysian government.

So I think all those assurances seem to have persuaded the family members to go and some of them said they didn't have much of a choice.

Let's listen to one family member who has become a leader of that group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WANG, MOTHER WAS MH370 PASSENGER: We'll move on to the next stage and keep -- still keep on fighting for the truth and for where the plane is, where our loved one is. We'll keep on it. We'll never give up.

Well, nothing changed for me, because living in (inaudible) or living back home is the same to me. I still keep on doing whatever I can to find the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well, there were emotional scenes here when the news came down with that interim report. For many family members, it was a disappointing one, because it didn't take them any closer to the closure that they want. And with -- as you say, Australian officials saying this could take eight months, even longer, that agonizing wait maybe hasn't got anywhere close to finishing. It could be just beginning. And now the family members will be waiting at their homes for some kind of closure, it if comes at all -- Amara.

WALKER: Yeah, right, that's a good point. If it comes at all. And it's really just hard to see those families on their knees just wailing and crying over the fact that they still have no answers and now they have to go home.

David McKenzie live for us there in Beijing. David, thank you.

Coming up on News Stream, frustration mounts in Nigeria over the lack of progress in finding dozens of kidnapped girls. We hear how some families are taking the search into their own hands.

And in a few hours, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams could hear if he'll be charged over a murder committed more than 40 years ago. We're live outside the police station where he's being held.

And Amanda Knox explains why she's innocent in the murder of Meredith Kercher and answers the question what if Italy's highest court upholds her conviction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Welcome back.

Nigerian authorities say the death toll from Thursday's explosion near the capital has doubled. The blast in Abuja killed at least 18 people and wounded 66. It comes three weeks after another attack on the same bus station. The militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for that bombing, but has not yet commented on this latest incident. It's raising questions about the government's ability to provide security for next week's world economic forum on Africa.

The government already faces intense criticism for its handling of the search for some 200 girls who were abducted from their school in the northeast. Protesters say authorities are not doing enough to find and rescue the students.

Suspected Boko Haram militants seized them more than two weeks ago in the town of Chibok. That's in Borno state, which has seen rampant violence blamed on Islamist militant group. Chibok is roughly 1,000 kilometers from Abuja.

Frustration with the rescue effort has led -- some of the family members to take the search into their own hands. Vladimir Duthiers joins us live from Lagos. Vlad, it sure shows that there's a lot of distrust with the government.

VLADIMIR DUTHIERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. In fact, we spoken to family members on the ground in Chibok state and trying to get a sense of the anguish, the frustration that they're feeling.

And they've told us that they have attempted on numerous occasions to go into this area where it is believed that Boko Haram has taken these young girls. They've armed themselves with sticks, with rocks, with machetes, anything that they can get their hands on in an attempt to rescue their daughters, rescue their sisters and bring them home to their families.

They say they're risking their lives to do the job the military and the government should be doing.

And exactly right, they feel this frustration. And the frustration is now being felt not only across all of Nigeria, but in many other parts of the world as the social media campaign starts to take root across -- in the United States, in the UK, all over the world essentially.

And here's what some of the people that we've spoken to have had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DUTHIERS: Nigerians take to the streets in anger. They're demanding the government do more to rescue about 200 girls who were abducted from their school more than two weeks ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a young mother, so I can't imagine any mother going through this. It's disheartening. It's shocking. Now our government has been -- hasn't made any official statement. Everybody is saying one thing or the other. But they're not sure. We need to hear the truth.

DUTHIERS: It started on April 14 at the all girls secondary school in the village of Chibok in Borno State. Armed men, believed to be members of the Islamist group Boko Haram, dragged the girls out of bed in the dead of night, loading them onto trucks and disappearing into a remote area near the border with Cameroon.

Luckily, dozens of students were able to escape, including Amina Shawok.

AMINA SHAWOK, ESCAPED FROM SCHOOL ATTACKERS (through translator): We thought they were soldiers and they asked us to board a vehicle, which was headed towards Zimbowa (ph). And my friends and I jumped from the vehicle and ran back home because we realized they don't look innocent to us.

DUTHIERS: The Borno State education commissioner says the government is doing everything it can and is withholding information for safety reasons.

But the families want answers. Rallies have been staged around the country. Their banners read, bring back our girls, the hashtag that started the social media campaign leading to the protests.

The organizer of the rally in Abuja says Nigerians are losing faith in their government.

OBI EZEKWESILI, FORMER NIGERIAN EDUCATION MINISTER: We are so frustrated at the fact that 234 children who get missing and there's absolutely no coherent explanation as to exactly the search and rescue operation that's going on on finding them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DUTHIERS: Amara, that really is the sense that we're starting to see here. You know, people have said to us at the protest yesterday, any other country in the world where 200 plus young schoolgirls had gone missing, that country would be at a standstill. And here in Nigeria, people are asking where are their leaders, where it he military, what are they doing to bring these girls home.

WALKER: Well, let's hope that this global spotlight on this rescue effort will help bring those girls home soon and safely. Vladimir Duthiers, thanks so much. Live there from Lagos.

Well, the U.S. says it has offered to help Nigeria, but has not specified what assistance it is willing to provide.

Now over on our website, columnist Frida Giddis (ph) writes this is an international crisis that requires international help. She says if it had happened anywhere else, this would be the world's biggest story.

You can read the rest at CNN.com.

All right, coming up next on News Stream, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams remains in custody in Northern Ireland as police question him about a 1972 murder. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Police in Northern Ireland continued to question Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams for a third day about an unsolved 1972 murder. Adams was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the death of Jean McConville, a widow who was reportedly killed by the IRA because they thought she was a spy for the British army.

Under normal procedures, Adams would either be charged or released after 48 hours unless the police apply to extend his detention. In a statement, he has denied playing any role in the killing.

Now the killing became one of the most notorious incidents during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles.

Atika Shubert joins me now live from the police station in Antrim.

And Atika, how long is Gerry Adams expected to be held there at the police station behind you?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have until 8:00 pm tonight to either apply to a judge to extend for another 28 days, or release him today.

So far, we haven't had any word from police on which way it's going, but ultimately that's what people are waiting for to see whether or not he gets released today and also whether or not he'll be charged. That's something really a question for the public prosecutor. So we're waiting for that.

Nobody is waiting more than members of the McConville family. In fact I just spoke to Jean McConville's son, Michael McConville, about his reaction to this saying that while he wasn't shocked at the arrest of Gerry Adams, he is happy to see what he considers justice being carried out. And he is waiting just like everybody else to see what happens next.

WALKER: And Gerry Adams, as you mentioned, has denied any involvement in this murder. Atika, fierce reaction from political leaders on both sides. What are we hearing?

SHUBERT: Yeah, there's been quite a bit of reaction, particularly obviously from Sinn Fein. They have denounced the arrest as being political interference. They've talked about dark movements behind the arrest. But others have dismissed it.

What it certainly means is that as the head of Sinn Fein there is bound to be a lot of political fallout. And the timing of the arrest is also being called into question. Remember, there is European parliament elections and local elections happening here. And Sinn Fein up until now was doing very well, very strongly in the polls. And so this is bound to have some fallout to see the leader of Sinn Fein now in a jail cell for the second night in police custody awaiting questions. It's a reminder of the dark political history of Sinn Fein and its inextricable links to the IRA.

WALKER: And Atika Shubert with the latest there at Antrim, Northern Ireland where Gerry Adams is being detained. Atika, thank you so much.

Well, Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein member and a deputy first minister of Northern Ireland has spoken out about the Gerry Adams arrest. He told reporters the dark side of Norther Ireland policing had flexed its muscled in the course of the past couple days and that the arrest was a deliberate attempt to influence the elections that are due to take place in three week's time, as you heard Atika Shubert reporting as well.

In the northern Syrian city of Raqaa (ph), an al Qaeda splinter group is being blamed for a series of bloody executions of fellow Sunnis. An activist group there says some of the men executed have been displayed publicly to send a powerful warning to others.

Mohammed Jamjoom has more. And note, some of the video is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Syria's rapid decline into brutality is no secret, but some Islamic extremists are taking public displays of torture to a new level. It is happening in the northern city of Raqaa (ph), executions staged to look like crucifixions.

Raqaa (ph) is controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, an Islamic group whose interpretation of Shariah law is so extreme al Qaeda parted ways with it.

ABBAS BARZEGAR, GEORGIE STATE UNIVERSITY, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: ISIS is trying to send the message that if you are an enemy of ISIS, you're an enemy of god. And this symbolic crucifixion is something that used to be carried out in ancient times in the old Muslim empires where the Roman empires, the Muslim empires used to crucify enemies of the state as enemies of god.

So this is the kind of rhetorical message they're trying to send to the public.

JAMJOOM: The images you are about to see are extremely graphic showing how far extremist groups are going to exert their control.

This is a photo of a body displayed crucifixion style on a wooden cross. The sign says this man fought Muslims and detonated an IED here.

The picture was taken by a bystander on Tuesday. Three days later, the body remained on the cross.

We don't know much about Tuesday's second victim, though his fate is clearly the same.

ISIS carried out seven public executions in Raqaa (ph) Tuesday. Two were displayed after death.

BARZEGAR: The fact is that crucifixion was an ancient form of execution for high treason in the Roman world and in the Muslim world of late antiquity. And so this is really the sort of textual origins that ISIS is drawing upon. But that is to -- you know, that said, it is completely at odds with aht Muslim practice has been in terms of justice and the judicial process and procedure for hundreds and hundreds of years.

JAMJOOM: The crucifixion displays began in March when ISIS accused a shepherd of murder and theft. He was shot in the head and tied to a wooden cross. The building bearing the groups name and flag. All three men were shot first, not killed by crucifixion, but their message is clear to the people who live here.

Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Still ahead here on New Stream, there have now been two guilty verdicts, but Amanda Knox insists she did not kill Meredith Kercher. We'll bring you part of her exclusive interview with CNN.

And shocking scenes from the U.S. state of Maryland. A landslide literally swallowing up nearly and entire street, taking cars, lights and everything it can.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: I'm Amara Walker at CNN Center, you're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling Ukraine's military operation in Eastern Ukraine a criminal act. A stepped up military action is underway in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk (ph) to oust pro-Russian militants from key government buildings. Ukraine's defense ministry says two military helicopters have been downed killing two officers. And an injured pilot has been taken hostage.

It's now two-and-a-half hours past the checkout time given to relatives of the missing Malaysia Airlines passengers. They've been told to leave the support center in Beijing and wait for future update from home.

Meanwhile, top officials say ships have found nothing in the Bay of Bengal. Australian company GeoResonance claims it located wreckage of a passenger jet there thousands of kilometers from the search area.

And in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is still in police custody after being arrested for the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. Authorities have until Friday evening to charge or release him. They can hold him beyond that, but they would need court approval. Adams denies the allegations.

And some news just into us here at CNN, the U.S. economy added 288,000 non-farm jobs in April. That's much more than analysts were expecting. The jobless rate dropped to 6.3 percent. We'll of course have much more on the jobs report on World Business Today in about a half hour from now.

Well, Amanda Knox is speaking out about her latest conviction for murder by an Italian appeals court. In an exclusive interview with CNN, she said there's no forensic evidence that proves she killed her roommate, former roommate rather, Meredict Kercher in 2007.

Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the killing 2009.

Well, they were both later acquitted but then found guilty again at a retrial in January.

The pair have one more chance to appeal at Italy's highest court. And if that fails, Amanda Knox could face extradition from the U.S.

In an interview with Chris Cuomo she said she's hopeful that won't happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Amanda, it was about almost a year ago that we did our last interview. At that time, your book had just come out. You were facing the prospect of this trial, the ruling of which we just received.

I want to remind you of what you said then about the prospect of having to return and face this fight again. Take a look.

KNOX: I'm afraid to go back there. I don't want to go back into prison. I mean, I was there for four years. I just -- I have no choice but to confront this. And I don't know. I -- I'm afraid. I'm so afraid.

CUOMO: Then, you had the anticipation of, what will this ruling be? What was worse, the anticipation of it or now knowing where it stands with the judges?

KNOX: Oh.

I think it's knowing now where it stands with the judges, because I -- I had truly believed that this court was going to find me innocent. No new evidence had been presented. I did not expect this. I -- I -- and I'm incredibly hurt and disappointed to read what they're saying is true, but is so clearly not.

And I guess my only hope is that people are going to see all of the flaws that are throughout the entire document that justifies this verdict, that this whole theory that I might somehow be involved in some way with Meredith's murder is wrong.

CUOMO: You will appeal.

KNOX: Yes.

CUOMO: You will stay here in the United States for the pendency of the appeal.

KNOX: Yes.

CUOMO: What happens if the Supreme Court confirms this ruling and the case is closed, and you are guilty?

KNOX: You know, from this whole experience, especially in prison, where you have to take everything day by day, right now, I'm having to take everything step by step.

And if I think about everything that I could possibly be facing, it's way too overwhelming for me to even conceive.

CUOMO: This started in 2007. It is now 2014. For you, in your life, is it present day? Are you able to be present in this day? Or are you still trapped in 2007?

KNOX: It's definitely a limbo.

My entire adult life has been weighed down and taken over by this tremendous mess. This -- this -- I mean, on the one hand, I have my life in Seattle. I get to go to school. I get to be with my family, my friends. And I'm so grateful to have them. They really help me get through this, and to know there are people who believe me.

And then, on the other hand, there's in huge weight and there's this huge struggle and trying to learn each step of the way what is -- what what's so wrong and how I can fix it. And I guess -- I guess I'm just -- I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones.

CUOMO: How so?

KNOX: Well, because I'm actually -- I'm actually supported by people. And people have looked into my case, as opposed to have forgotten me.

CUOMO: If the case is affirmed by the Supreme Court, if you are found guilty in final fashion, but the United States decides not to extradite, your life goes on, you can live here, you can be in the United States, but will you ever really be free?

KNOX: No, absolutely not, no.

That's not a livable -- that's not -- especially since, right now, me and Raffaele together are fighting for our innocence. And I -- like I said, I truly believe that that can happen. It is only speculation that convicts us. It is evidence that acquits us. And I'm holding -- I'm holding firm to that, in hopes that what you're suggesting might happen doesn't.

CUOMO: You're holding out hope?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Now, Ivory Coast born Rudy Guede was also convicted for the murder. He's currently serving a 16 year prison sentence in Italy. Prosecutors say all three suspects were involved in the killing, but say Amanda Knox is the one who dealt the final and fatal blow.

Interpol says it has busted an international sextortion (ph) ring. 58 suspects have been arrested in the Philippines. Police say victims were enticed to participate in online video sex chats and then recorded. They say members of the ring then threatened to make those videos public unless victims gave them thousands of dollars.

The director of Interpol announced the arrests from Manila.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANJAY VIRMANI, INTERPOL DIRECTOR: The scale of these sextortion (ph) networks is massive and run with just one goal in mind: to make money regardless of the terrible emotional damage they inflict on their victims.

The internet is a reflection of society, both good and bad. And just as in the real world, police are committed to catching criminals. This is equally true for the virtual world.

This operation shows that there is no hiding place. And no matter where criminals carry out their crimes or try to hide behind the anonymity of the internet, law enforcement is equally determined in their efforts to track them down and bring them to justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Police say a 17-year-old British youth killed himself because of the extortion. Authorities in the UK, Hong Kong and the Philippines participated in the investigation.

Still to come this hour, he could be Brazil's best hope for winning the World Cup this summer, but there's one thing holding Neymar back. We get the details from the football star coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Welcome back. Earlier, we told you about the rising anger over the abduction of some 200 girls in northeast Nigeria. Enoch Mark's daughter and two nieces were among the kidnapped girls and he joins us now on the line from Chibok, Nigeria.

Mr. Mark, first of all thank you so much for joining us. I can't imagine what you and the other families are going through right now. Mr. Mark, if you can help us understand who your daughter is, your two nieces. How old are they? And how is your familiy coping at this time?

Mr. Mark?

OK, it looks like we lost that phone call, but we will try to get him back later in the program.

Well, time is nearly up for those preparing for the World Cup in Brazil. The road has not been easy nor completed. Our Shasta Darlington takes a look at one particular venue on a very tight schedule.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In just six week's time Brazil will kickoff against Croatia right here at the Sao Paulo stadium for the inaugural match of the World Cup.

Now, what we're watching right now is the first test match being played by the workers who built the stadium.

Friends and family have turned out. The problem is, if you take a look around, you can see this stadium is still very much under construction, they're still installing the 20,000 temporary seats needed for the World Cup.

And this is a stadium that was supposed to be handed over to FIFA at the end of December. But with cost overruns and deadly accidents in which three construction workers were killed, the work get seriously behind schedule. Now they're talking about handing it over in the second half of May.

That means, there won't be a single full capacity test match before the World Cup.

And Sao Paulo isn't alone. The stadiums, including Chiba (ph) and Cuoba (ph) are also still under construction.

No doubt organizers can't wait for the games to start so people will stop talking about what's ready and what isn't and focus on who is winning.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And when the World Cup does kick off, Brazil's hopes will rest on the shoulders of this man: Neymar. But the host nation's biggest star is battling an injury. Amanda Davies sat down with Neymar a few days ago to see how he's doing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: The big question, will you be right for the World Cup?

NEYMAR, BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL STAR (through translator): I will be ready. There's no problem with my injury with regards to the World Cup. The only problem is I can't help Barcelona right now. But I am cheering for them so they can play well to get to the final game and win the title.

DAVIES: I must ask you there have been the protests, the violence in the buildup to the World Cup. Do you understand why people are upset?

NEYMAR: I don't think there's any problem with protesting as long as its peaceful without violence and without vandalism. If it's the best thing for Brazil then they should protest.

DAVIES: Neymar's been a star in his home country for years, but last year's mutlimillion dollar transfer to Barcelona from Brazilian club Santos catapulted him onto the world stage.

But allegations of tax irregularities by the Spanish club, and additional payments of millions of dollars to Neymar's father's company, have seen the transfer, not the player, become teh story.

While all parties accept additional payments were made, Barcelona and Neymar's family deny any wrongdoing in the transfer. The deal remains under criminal investigation and has sparked separate legal action by Santos against Neymar's father who serves as his agent.

You have spoken out in defense of your father who obviously means a lot to you in terms of your transfer here. Given you spent so much of your life at Santos, how disappointed are you with how they have dealt with the issue?

NEYMAR: I was very sad with the way Santos handled it. We need to say that we were right and haven't done anything wrong. The way Santos handled it left me very sad but what are you going to do? I can't answer or speak for them but I can speak for myself and my dad and say that we were truly saddened by how they wanted to resolve it.

DAVIES: Has it changed how you think of your time at Santos?

NEYMAR: I'm sad with the board. I'm sad with the president with those people I am upset.

With the club, the fans, the players, no. I didn't have any problem with them. On the contrary, I have a lot of love for Santos because I was with the club for 10 years.

DAVIES: How much do you think it has maybe affected your performance on the pitch in the last few months?

NEYMAR: No, I don't think it has. I'm used to putting all those problems aside. Im' very relaxed when it comes to that.

It's a sharpe (ph) when everyone talks about things that are not true. It's doesn't affect me when I'm on the pitch.

DAVIES: And how do you see your relationship with Lionel Messi?

NEYMAR: We haven't played together in every game. But I think the bond we have been creating is very good, because the relationship that we have together is wonderful.

Some people were saying that we wouldn't get along, but this hasn't turned out to be the case. He's a very relaxed guy. He's a star I admire a lot. And I'm getting to know him personally. I'm seeing that everything is said about him is not true. Once you know the person, then you change your opinion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And you can watch more of Amanda's interview with Neymar a little later.

He talks about the pressure of being compared to another Brazilian legend Pele. That's in just over three hours from now on World Sport.

Well, it's one of the biggest franchises in gaming. The new Call of Duty has been unveiled and there's a surprising addition to the series. We'll tell you what in just a couple minutes.

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WALKER: Welcome back.

We want to show you now some really dramatic pictures of a landslide in the United States. Mari Ramos has more on that from the world weather center.

Mari, these are just incredible, incredible images.

MARI RAMOS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: They really are. You know, yesterday around the same time I showed you pictures of the aftermath of the landslide, but now we have pictures of the landslide happening in real time. They are really amazing images.

And before we show you the pictures, I want to talk to you about the area that we're talking about. It's right here in the eastern United States.

Remember, we've been talking about all of that heavy rain that has been falling across this area and they think the rain may have been a contributing factor. An entire city block just slides down a hill. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAMOS: Well, in these pictures, what you're seeing is when the landslide first started and people were out there looking and seeing the cars of that entire city block, as I mentioned, were sliding down the hill. Eventually, that entire side of the hill came crashing down. There it goes.

Oh. Amara, I think I would have been screaming too if I witnessed that. At the bottom of the hill, there was a retaining wall. The retaining wall gave way. Like I said before, they think they may have -- the rain may have something to do with it. At the bottom of the hill was a railroad track that has been completely covered in mud and I must add, and cars.

No one fortunately was in their vehicle when this happened. So no one was hurt.

Pretty scary stuff.

If you come back over to the weather map, that's one aspect of the rain that we've had. The other, of course, has been the historic rainfall that has happened out here along the Gulf Coast region, particularly in Florida. And of course the tornadoes that we've had across parts of Mississippi and Alabama.

This picture right here -- you know, think of everything that you have in your kitchen -- dish clothes, electrical appliances, maybe that china pattern you got for your wedding. You know, so many things that are destroyed in a person's life.

Here you see a woman trying to collect anything that she can from her demolished home in Louisville, Mississippi. A very, very sad story. The death toll, unfortunately across those areas, over two dozen people.

And this is in Pensacola with that tremendous flooding that we've been talking about. Here's a roadway completely demolished also with the cars at the bottom as the road, the entire roadway gave way.

And I don't know if you can tell from this picture right here, Amara, but look at this, you see that right there? That's actually the yellow line in the middle of the road that's completely onto its side. Really, really scary all that rainfall.

We are still getting some isolated rain showers across this region here. And thats' a concern, because any amount of rain that falls is going to cause more flooding and that is still a problem.

So what we have the rain and the recovery happening here across the east, very cool temperatures across the central portion of the U.S. and near record highs across the west.

I want to show you a different picture. And this one is from Lake Michigan. Take a look. This is -- you know, sometimes they call it an ice tsunami. It's not really a tsunami, but basically what happens is when the lakes begin to break up, when the ice begins to break up -- and in this case they had above average ice cover, the wind and the waves pushed the ice onto the shoreline. And in this case, we're looking at a huge amount of ice that has been affecting this area. 23 percent of the lake is still covered in ice. At this time of year, it should be closer to two percent. And it's taking a toll on the communities in and around the lake.

Pretty scary stuff there.

WALKER: It is wild. So much extreme and unusual weather around the U.S. Mari Ramos, thank you so much.

Well, the latest installment of one of the biggest franchises in gaming was unveiled a few hours ago -- Call of Duty advanced warfare is this year's addition of the popular shooter. And this time it's bringing along a famous name.

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KEVIN SPACEY, ACTOR: Little things like we ought to be tough. People need a leader who can give them both the support and the constraints to keep chaos at bay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Yep, you probably recognized him. That's actor Kevin Spacey lending his voice and face to the game. Not bad. Looks just like him.

The new Call of Duty is due out in November.

Sony has announced 12 more Playstation 4 games from independent developers. The Indy gaming scene has flourished in recent years. The massive success of Minecraft has shown that games don't have to be big and expensive productions. Minecraft was originally created by one man, but has now sold over 15 million copies.

That success has lead to indy games being embraced by the likes of Sony and by developers who want more creative freedom. As part of News Stream Game Faces series, we speak to one artist who is finally making the game he's always wanted to make.

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JAKE KADZAL, GAME DEVELOPER: I'm Jake Kessel (ph), the creator and director of Galak-Z 17 BIT.

Well, I realized that my skillset was drawing and animating and playing games and I wanted to do something that I enjoyed doing so, you know, at the time there was a lot of games studios close to my house where I grew up and it was a very valid option so I just decided pretty early on that I wanted to make video games with my life.

My father had pizza parlors in the late 70s and early 80s. And I spent a lot of time playing Defender and Asteroids and Tempest, Centipede, all the classics and I've just kind of always had a love of those type of really pure action games.

Galak-Z looks like a classic 16-bit shooter with all the trappings of sort of the classic 80s anime, you know, Macross sort of Starblazer sort of look. But, you know, the game under the hood is a very different beast. We've teamed up with a new startup called Sentient. They are creating some really kind of worldclass AI for us, which is good because we're a small studio we can't afford a big AI team. So they're artificial intelligence is doing some really kind of cutting edge stuff and it makes the game kind of a really special experience.

You start off in deep space. The whole theme is kind of this, you know, anime morning cartoon sort of setup. Your episode takes between 30, 40 minutes to kind of finish, complete a game to get to the end. And in that time, you'll play through a couple of different missions.

Like its deep space, you want to be exploring, you want to be exploring these deep caves. This game really is about the combat, about the combat interactions. And speaking of, here are the space pirates for the first time. So I'm going to bring them into the fray here and let them take out that hammerhead I was just fighting.

Part of this game, too, is using these environments. So I've got these exploding spores here. I can start shooting those and knock these guys back a bit. Oh, now they've brought in some of the big guns here.

I don't believe in big -- you know, long complicated cut scenes. I think a player is there to play games, that's why they're there. So you should give them as much control as possible.

I'm a busy father. And I, you know, am project director and lead artists, creative director. So I don't get a lot of other time to play other games, so the games that I make have to be awesome, because I have to play them every day. And this is, you know, this is basically my favorite game. I've always wanted to make this game.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Pretty cool. Imagine playing video games all day long and that's your job.

That's News Stream, but the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is up next.

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