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Two Teenagers Arrested in U.K. on Terrorism Charges; Police Identified One Suspect in Kenya Attack; U.S. Citizen Killed by Mortar Strike in Yemen; Kentucky Fails to Complete Undefeated Season; Rolling Stone Magazine Rleases Report on Alleged Gang Rape Story; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Appeared on Sunday Talk Shows to Blast the Proposed Nuclear Deal with Iran; Pope Francis Calls for an End to Violence and Oppression across the World; Remembering Paul Walker. Aired 5:00-4p ET

Aired April 05, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:11] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now in the NEWSROOM.

Two teenagers just 14 and 16 years old arrested in the U.K. on terrorism charges.

Then the story behind Rolling Stone Magazine's horrifying report of a gang rape at the University of Virginia. Tonight the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism releases its explanation about flaws in the magazine's reporting and how it went wrong.

Plus --.

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Oh, boy, Fast and Furious 7 leaving records in the dust as it speeds to a first place finish. We take a look at the box office numbers.

CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

Hello, again, everyone and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Two teens have been arrested on charges as they were preparing to commit an act of terrorism. British Police arrested a 14-year-old boy on Thursday after, quote, "examining some electronic devices." The next day officials raided another home in northern England and arrested a 16-year-old girl on related charges. Police aren't releasing other details just yet, but both suspects have been released on bail and have court hearings set for May 28th now.

For more of it, let's bring in CNN National Security Analyst and author of Manhunt, The Ten-year search for Bin Laden, Peter Bergen.

So Peter, you say the arrest of the 14 and 16-year-olds in the U.K. may not be that unusual? Why?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): Well, we don't know these exact charges, Fredericka right now. But if the charges are trying to join ISIS, trying to go to Syria to join ISIS, or something of that nature, in fact we're seeing a quite a number of teenagers who are doing not only in U.K. but also in United States. We've seen cases in Colorado teenage girls trying to go to ISIS who were arrested in Frankford, we've seen Shannon Conley, 19-year-old (INAUDIBLE) who plead guilty to the trying to join ISIS. We've seen a case in Chicago with three teenagers also trying to join ISIS, who were arrested at the airport.

So if indeed the charges are of some kind of support for ISIS, these very young ages are not surprising they might seem. If on the other hand, these two teenagers were actually trying to plot some kind a terrorist attack in any serious manner that would be highly unusual, we're not seeing teenagers in days in that kind of activity, either in U.K. or United States.

WHITFIELD: So how was it these young people are generally, you know, busted since you're reminding us that these, you know, young teenagers are not the first, is it by way of social media typically or is there some other behavior or some other stage of planning that is revealed?

BERGEN: I think it's almost invariably social media, Fredericka, because it's, you know, perfectly legal for law enforcement whether it's the FBI or the British equivalent to monitor people's Facebook or Twitter postings that are public. And typically, these kids are, you know, very active on social media, often they're linking up with ISIS -- I asked people actually inside ISIS, through Twitter, in fact ISIS has a publication with I was just reviewing, where there are 17 Twitter accounts that they're advertising that you can direct message, get in touch with people in ISIS.

It's was so incline to travel so, you know, it's both on good thing and a bad thing, in a sense the good thing is the social media is a law enforcement can track it pretty easily. The bad thing of course is that's it's encouraging a lot of people, hundreds of kids to think that ISIS is an attractive group and Syria is an attractive destination.

WHITFIELD: And do you know the answer to this, Peter, as to typically these ISIS recruiters, are they making their first contact with these young people in person, and then engaging them online or is it the other way around?

BERGEN: It's invariably the other way around, Fredericka, I mean, they are online and they're pretty accessible if you, you know, it's not anybody listening to this program can sort of go to some ISIS, you know, kind of propaganda and finding the Twitter handless of people that are actually in ISIS. It's not that difficult. That we've seen the case in Chicago where these three teenagers (INAUDIBLE) in Chicago. Were communicating with somebody who appears to be relatively senior in ISIS who was saying, "hey, get to Turkey and I'll, you know, we'll work it out so you can get into Syria.

[15:04:48] WHITFIELD: Well, it almost sounds like just by what you are, you know, the picture that you're painting for us is that, for parents, aside from removing their cell phones or taking away the computers, there's no way of protecting these young people from being eligible recruits?

BERGEN: I think it's hard and of course, you know, there's a generational thing here, of course Fredericka, which is that, you know, based on parents are not a savvy about the internet in general as their kids are. And these kids are not, you know, they're -- they're using ask.com (ph) and other kinds of, you know, kind of things on the internet which most parents have no idea about as a way to communicate. And so, you know, parents if they need, you know, need to be cognizant of what their kids are doing online, not only for this issue but for any other issue that you can think about that might get their kids in trouble.

WHITFIELD: All right, very disturbing. Thank you so much. Peter Bergen, I appreciate your time.

All right, meantime, police in Kenya have identified one of the suspects in last week's bloody al-Shabaab terror attack on a college campus as the son of a government official. Mean while authorities are also naming a man they say planned the attack that killed more than 147 people, most of them students. Authorities are offering a $250,000 reward for the alleged mastermind, Mohamed Mohamud.

CNN David McKenzie joining me right now from Nairobi.

So David, what more do we know about this alleged mastermind?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this mastermind there's also goes by the name Gandarian (ph). This is pretty typical for Somali militant to have several names and nicknames. And it's seems, according to internal documents that CNN has seen that this man is in charge or cross-border incursions from Somali into Kenya to take part in this hideous terror attack that we've seen recently. Obviously most serious this attack on this University in Garissa. But there have been other attacks in recent months, and they've also had the same sort of modus operandi getting people separating the Christians from the Muslims and then killing the Christians in cold blood.

And as you say, they have been asked to what they think is through our reporting as well, one potential suspect who was one of those gunmen. He is amazingly, the son we believe of a Kenyan official from northeast Kenya, Abdul Rakman Abdullahi (ph), who it seems was a graduate from Nairobi Law School, which is just close by to my location here and then disappeared into Somalia. This is really fits into the pattern of recruitment from Kenya that I have seen over the years, that Somali-Kenyans and just Kenyan Muslims are susceptible to being recruited by al-Shabaab and then returning to frankly, to their home soil to kill fellow citizen -- Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: OK. David McKenzie, thanks for that update. Keep us posted. Thank you so much.

All right, the latest fighting in Yemen has now claimed the life of an American citizen for the first time, Jahmahl al-abani (ph). Apparently, he left for Yemen two months ago; the country has to send it into heavy sectarian fighting that has claimed more than 500 lives in the last two weeks alone. The International Red Cross is called for ceasefire so those wounded in the fighting can actually get medical help.

Nick Valencia has more on the American killed the circumstances that found him in Yemen.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. People may be wondering what he doing there in the first place. He has a pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter that live in Eden, Yemen. And he travelled there in February with the intention of bringing both of them back. Just a couple months ago he had secured U.S. passport for that two and a half year old daughter. But in the weeks leading up to his death, there was worsening conditions there on the ground in Yemen. And he was voicing concerns to his family.

His cousin told me just a little while ago, Jamal al-Labani, just two days before he died, his planned was to cross the border into Amman, catch a flight to Egypt but he just never made it. About 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday he was leaving prayers on a Mosque with his nephew when he was hit by shrapnel rounder, shrapnel from a mortar strike and he just dies two minutes later.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. And then you spoke with an official at the state department, what they are saying about so many who want to be us to be more involved in getting other American citizens out of Yemen.

VALENCIA: This really as a point of contention for advocates of U.S. citizens in Yemen. Yet many Americans that U.S. State Department is not doing enough. So we reached out to them and asked an official if there were plans to evacuate citizens there in Yemen right now. For now they say in a statement, "that's not the case," they say they encourage all U.S. citizens to shelter in a secure location until they are able to depart safely. They also told me that in the last ten years they've been given at least 24 travel warnings to Yemen.

I spoke to Jamal al-Labani 's cousin and this is something that was concerning to him. He says that the U.S. government could have done more to help his cousin and people like him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED ALAZZANI, JAMAL AL-LABANI'S COUSIN: Unfortunately, a lot of people traveled when didn't know the risk, they will hear the news but, I mean, and then looking at it, a month ago, a few months ago, it wasn't as bad as it is today, it has reached hour so as it got really bad then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:06] VALENCIA: The council on Islamic-American relations says there's a lot more Yemeni-Americans there in Yemen than initially believe.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder since the U.S. personnel has evacuated U.S. troops there, I mean, really, what would the U.S. be able to do in terms of retrieving or getting other Americans out? I mean, physically, there are no means in which to do that, it would seem.

VALENCIA: Even so, these advocates say that they've could do more. What they are specifically wanting, they don't say, but that's really something they just want some help.

WHITFIELD: Yes. They just want some help. Got it. All right.

VALENCIA: They say other smaller governments like Ethiopia, India, Russia, they've evacuated their citizens, the U.S. needs to do more help (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: Why not there. All right, Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

VALENCIA: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Back in this country now, yes, then there were just two, a wild night of March madness in April as the championship game is now set. Andy Scholes is still in Indianapolis -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR/REPORTER: Yes, Fred. Kentucky dreamed of undefeated season is now over and what one of their players did in postgame interviews could land him in some hot water. We'll tell you what he said after the break.

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[15:14:21] WHITFIELD: My God, what a night. Duke in Wisconsin fan, well, they're probably pretty thankful that they have a day to rest now before the National Championship game tomorrow night. As you can see right there, lots of excitement, celebrations went all night long, but there is some fallout now after the game.

CNN's Andy Scholesis in Indianapolis with the details. Where do we begin, Andy?

SCHOLES: Well, Fred, first of all, it was an amazing game, such an amazing atmosphere. Felt more like a final than a semi-final. As you said, there was some controversy after the game involving one of the Harrison twins, Andrew Harrison, what he said after the game, the postgame press conference.

Before we get to that, let's take a look at the highlights at what happened in this game and what caused the Kentucky players to just get so frustrated.

This game is the second half was awesome. They went back and forth, and Wisconsin guard player, Frank Kaminsky, he had an amazing game, really proved why he's the college player of the year this year. Twenty points, 11 rebound, he was unstoppable. And when Wisconsin needed a basket, they went with their first (ph) guy, Sam Dekker, he had a big three in the final two minutes that really gave Wisconsin the lead for good. They went to on to win 71 to 64 and Kentucky's roster full of NBA first round picks just stunned as were their fans. And CNN Rachel Nichols, she caught up with Kentucky head coach, John

Calipari after the game to get his thoughts on the team's first loss of the season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:15:40] RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It's been basically a year since you guys lost a game. What were those kids like in the locker room postgame?

JOHN CALIPARI, HEAD COACH OF KENTUCKY WILDCATS: They knew they let something slip away. You know, I mean, here's the thing with up for -- our team has always finished those off and we just didn't execute down the stretch, and I put that on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now Duke, easily beat Michigan State last night, so that set the stage for the championship game tomorrow night, it's going to be Badgers versus Blue Devils. Then you going to have to stay up late if you want to watch this one, its kicks off at 9:18 Eastern on CBS.

Now back to that controversy that we're talking about, Fredericka, after the game, Kentucky players clearly frustrated after suffering their first loss of the season and having their dream of undefeated season be crossed by the Badgers. The Harrison twins they were so frustrated, they left the court without shaking hands with the Badgers players. And in the postgame press conference, Andrew Harrison, he was one of the players available for interviews.

Now, a reporter was asking Karl-Anthony Towns a question about Frank Kaminsky, the great game that he had and while he was asking that question, Harrison uttered with his hand over his mouth an expletive and called can Kaminsky the N-word. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SCHROEDER, USA TODAY REPORTER: George Schroeder of USA Today, this for Karl, what if you could talk about Kaminsky and what makes him so difficult --

(beep)

SCHROEDER: -- what if anything is unique about defending him, the things he does?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Karl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Harrison realized what had happened and he took to Twitter early this morning to apologize. Let me read you some of the Tweet he sent out. He said, "First I want to apologize for my poor choice of words used in jest towards a player I respect and know. When I realized how this could be perceived I immediately called big Frank to apologize and let him know I didn't mean any disrespect. We had a good conversation, and I wished him good luck in the championship game on Monday."

And now, Fred, Frank Kaminsky was just talking to the media moments ago, he said he did in fact talk to Andrew Harrison late last night and he did apologize and he said really there's no big deal, in terms of what could happened to Harrison for what he said, Kentucky hasn't commented on that yet. And nothing could really happened because Harrison could very well be going to the NBA and he might not ever play another collegiate basketball game.

WHITFIELD: All right. A definitely leaving a sour taste on things.

All right, Andy Scholes, thanks so much from Indianapolis.

SCHOLES: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right, one of the nation's top journalism schools is releasing a review of Rolling Stone Magazines editorial process after the magazine published a controversial piece about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. What the Columbia reports may mean next.

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[15:21:59] WHITFIELD: Tonight, the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism will release a report on the controversial article by "Rolling Stone" Magazine about an alleged gang rape on the campus at the University of Virginia. The article, which was released in November of 2014, detailed a graphic and horrific account by a UVA freshman named Jackie, who says, she was sexually assaulted by several members of a fraternity. But Jackie's account and "Rolling Stone's" reporting quickly began to unravel after other media outlets started asking questions. Inconsistency and a lack of corroborating information forced "Rolling Stone" to apologize for the article.

CNN's Sara Ganim brings us up to date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Rolling Stone's story shocked both the campus at UVA and the nation. Seven men accused of attacking a young women over several hours, an alleged gang rape during a fraternity party. But along with the outrage, there was suspicion. Details began to emerge about the night the woman named Jackie says she was raped.

ALEX STOCK, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENTS: I think that was pretty clear in the "Rolling Stone" piece but you know, it was almost too perfect to the story.

GANIM: Jackie's friends, Alex Stock and Ryan Duffin say, they were with her the night of the alleged attack in September of 2012. What they remember is very different from what Jackie told "Rolling Stone."

The article says that she was beaten, hit in the face that she was barefoot, that she was bloodied and that her was obviously beaten, is that true? RYAN DUFFIN, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENTS: No. I didn't notice

any sort of physical injuries, I didn't notice a lack of shoes, I didn't really notice anything.

GANIM: There were other discrepancies about where she met her rapist, where they went on their date and in the most strange twist, Jackie had asked her friends to text with her date and the pictures and text messages he purportedly sent later appeared to be fake.

STOCK: There's a very good chance, whoever I was texting was Jackie. There's a definite possibility.

GANIM: As the story began to fall apart, Rolling Stone admitted they never contacted the men Jackie had accused. They also admitted that Alex and Ryan were never interviewed by the writer of the story even though they were quoted in the article. Rolling Stone said, it had taken Jackie's word and failed the fact Jackie much of her story. That left towering questions about what's real and what's not.

Last month, Charlottesville police said their investigation found no evidence that Jackie was raped in the way that the story portrays. But they were clear not to accused Jackie of lying, leaving open the possibility that something bad might have happened to her, perhaps somewhere else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her lips were quavering.

GANIM: Her friends tell us they believe it's possible they'll never know exactly what happened to Jackie.

DUFFIN: I still think it's difficult to believe that she would have been acting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:24:51] GANIM: Now Fred, as these additional details as these inconsistencies began to emerge late last year, Rolling Stone reached out to the Columbia journalism review and asked them to essentially rewrite the story. And in addition to rewriting it, to go back and to fact check their stood -- the original story which they admitted they had failed to fact check in many ways.

Tonight, when this report is release, we expect to finally learn the anatomy of journalistically how the story went so wrong -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so Sara, why would "Rolling Stone" do that? I mean, is this their way of trying to reassure their readers that they're willing to fall on the sword, they're willing to look at their mistakes. I mean, why would they have an outside group a university, a college journalism school re-evaluate their reporting and how they went about it?

GANIM: So presumably, you're right. They believe that it's more credible coming from someone else's especially in an organization as prestigious as Columbia University. They're well known for their journalism program, they're journalism school and the Columbia Journalism review which often does this kind of thing. Critics story that have gone arise essentially. You know, they did apologized, they kind a took that first step last year when some of these inconsistencies were reported and they said that they had found that were some things that were wrong, but then they stopped at a point and they handed it off to another organization so that it would be more credible.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then now we're also going to hear from the reporter, she will be delivering a message, do we know what that message is and is it tomorrow?

GANIM: Well, we expect to get the report tonight at 8:00 o'clock. It's not known what she's going to say, you know, Fred, she hasn't said a single thing since this all fell apart. She did a few interviews some of them with CNN, right after the story was published, when it was being praised but since these details emerged, she had not said a word.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Ganim, thanks so much from New York.

All right. Still ahead, a deal with Iran, it all comes down to trust. So how do inspectors know if Iran will be keeping its word? We'll talk about that next.

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WHITFIELD: All right, mortgage rates are slightly down for the week, have a look at the numbers.

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[15:30:37] WHITFIELD: All right, hello again. Thanks for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit all the Sunday talk shows today to blast the proposed nuclear deal with Iran, saying what he has been saying all along, it is a very bad deal, his viewpoint.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is at the White House.

So Sunlen, what is the prime minister saying and is he getting much traction?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, he continues to say that this is a bad deal. He wants more pressure on Iran, more sanctions on Iran and he wants the U.S. to Congress to block the deal and hold out for a better one. So he's lobbying Congress directly himself. He said today that he has spoken personally to two-thirds of Congress, trying to get support to block this bill.

And the White House anticipated this from the prime minister and they're, of course, engaged in their own sales job of this deal on Capitol Hill, but also reaching out to other world leaders as well.

Now the prime minister and president Obama, they spoke on the phone on Thursday night, the night that this framework of an agreement was announced. They spoke, according to Netanyahu, for over an hour. And the two relationships has really been documented as a testy and really and really flashy relationship. But kind of us are told, CNN's Jim Acosta that his opposition to this deal has little to do with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I think it's not a question of personal trust, of course, we have a mutual respectful relationship and I always respect both the presidency of the United States and this president of the United States. But as the prime minister of the one and only Jewish state, when I see a country, a terrorist regime committed to our destruction. And not only to our destruction, having the path, a clear path to the bomb, it is my obligation to speak out as I am doing now as I will do in any forum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And there are many on Capital Hills who are receptive of the prime minister's argument, both Republicans and Democrats, we should add as well, who believe that the frame work of this agreement does not do enough to roll back Iran's nuclear program.

But one leading Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, she's a leading voice on intelligence issues on Capitol Hill. She had some blunt words for the prime minister and specifically for his campaign that he's engaged in to derail this deal. She says that she believe is doing more harm than good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, I think he said what he has had to say. And to be candid with you, this can backfire on him. And I wish that he would contain himself because he has put out no real alternative in his speech, the Congress, no real alternative, since then, no real alternative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And Congress will be back from recess here in Washington, D.C. in about a week. And Fred, the bills are already lined up waiting to challenge President Obama on this - Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much from Washington at the White House.

So let's talk more about this, Kimberly Dozier, CNN's global affairs analyst, and she is joining us from our Washington bureau.

So Kimberly, part of this proposed deal calls for U.N. inspections, inspectors who were task with this, once before, particularly in Iraq and found a very difficult. And we heard from the president just leading into the weekend, who says, you know, if Iran cheats, we will know it. He says this deal -- in this deal, Iran will face more inspections than any other country in the world. What are the assurances of that? KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, they may well face

more inspections, but we haven't seen the fine print on that. That could be in the classified annex to this current deal or it could be part of what they're working out between now and June 30th, which is the deadline for the next part of the deal.

In Iraq in the '90s, that was the deal imposed on Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait. Iraq doesn't have a choice. U.N. and IAEA inspectors at that time had the right to from a base inside Iraq, fly anywhere by fixed wing aircraft or helicopter, drive anywhere, they could put monitors on any building in that country, things that would either videotape went in or out, or monitoring weapons of mass destruction particles in the area.

So the question is will inspect ors have the same rights inner rang? Iran has already shown its ability and willingness in the past decade to build a nuclear program and hide it from informers and turn away inspectors when they ask for entry.

[15:35:14] WHITFIELD: And with that would be possible to hide it in this case when we talk about access now for the first time. You heard President Obama and Secretary Kerry lay it out that there was this Iranian facility where Iran had been implementing, you know, an experimentation of a nuclear weapon? Is this material something you can move conveniently when you know an inspector was coming?

DOZIER: Well, what you could do if you knew an inspector was coming, something that thought was happening in Iraq, perhaps, move material around that's already there or maybe move the storage boxes in front of hidden doorways that lead to programs another level. But nobody knew about.

Now look, the CIA director has said that the U.S. pretty much know where is all the Iranian nuclear facilities are, 95 percent sure, but it's that other 5 percent that worries the critics. We have been flying, the U.S. has been flying surveillance drones over the U.N. one went down and the U.S. president asked for it to be returned and it has not been returned to my knowledge.

So we will probably continue to do the same sorts of things. But the question will be what happens when a group of inspectors show up at a facility that they have been told something might be there, and then Iran says no, you cannot go in there. At that point, how quickly would sanctions ratchet back up, would it take a few weeks, a few months at the security council to being them back into place. That's what the critics start honing in on tight now.

WHITFIELD: All right, again, this is the framework and we know details are going to be worked out or at least that's hope. Details will be worked out by that June 30th deadline.

All right, thanks so much Kimberly Dozier in Washington.

DOZIER: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Alright, still ahead, the Pope that gets political in his Easter address, his message for the masses coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:49] WHITFIELD: All right, this Easter Sunday, Pope Francis is calling for an end to violence and oppression across the world, from Kenya to Iran. Thousands of faithful Christians packed into St. Peter's square to hear the Pope's annual Easter message. The pontiff expressed his deep concern about the bloodshed in Kenya and in Iraq.

Senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Rome with details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's supposed to be a holiday occasion when Christians marked the resurrection of Jesus. But the weather in St. Peter's square was cool and rainy. The spirit of Easter this year marred by violence, most recently in Kenya where militants from the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab slaughtered almost 150 mostly Christian students at a Garissa University.

Pope Francis marking this third Easter as pontiff, pray for peace in Kenya, in Iraq, in Syria, in the holy land, in Libya, in Yemen, in Nigeria and Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then Ukraine.

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH HEAD (through translator): We ask peace of (INAUDIBLE) for beloved Syria and Iraq that the roar of arms may cease and that peaceful relations may be restored among the various groups which make up those beloved countries. May the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees.

WEDEMAN: Clearly, his mind occupied by war and rumors of war the world over. He did however end his Easter address on a slightly lighter note, asking all those present to pray for him and wishing one and all a good Easter lunch.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right let's talk more about the Pope. Joining me right now is CNN's senior Vatican correspondent John Allen and CNN religious commentator Fr. Edward Beck.

Good to see both of you all. Happy Easter!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy Easter, Fred

WHITFIELD: So John, you have heard - you know, we hear every Pope pray for peace in his Easter message, but does this resonate differently because of the turmoil right now because of this, you know, huge popularity of Pope Francis.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred and Father. Happy Easter as the Pope would say to both of you. Sure, I mean, listen, every Pope is an important diplomatic actor. The Vatican is the lone major world religion that has its own diplomatic core. It is recognized as a sovereign state around the world. But this Pope in particular, because of his huge poll numbers, the most present Pew forum survey found in States, he's got 90 percent approval among most Americans. A more recent "Wall Street Journal" poll found that he's got almost two-thirds approval among Americans at large.

Politicians are very adept to creating polls. When you've got a major world leader who has massive popularity, of course, they're going to pay attention. And then, well there was one of their element of (INAUDIBLE), Fred, is his from message today that didn't picked up on in that set up is which was his comments on the deal with Iran.

The Pope polled (ph) the deal at Lussan (ph) which potentially a definitive step towards a more paternal and secure world. And at a time when you hear in particular Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trying to undercut that deal, but the Pope's at least tentative support probably has some diplomatic and political significance.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. In fact, let's talk more about that poll that you are talking about. You talk about the Pew research poll, but there's also the "Wall Street Journal/NBC News" poll showing that Americans like Pope Francis so much more than their own political leaders.

And Father Beck, here, some of the numbers, 56 percent see him, the Pope, in a positive light while only six percent have a degree view. By contrast, only 44 percent view President Obama in a positive light, compared to 43 percent who see him in a negative one and 44 percent seeing Hillary Clinton positively and 36 percent negatively. And then there is also the number with Jeb Bush, falling at 23 percent positive, 34 percent negative. I don't think anybody wants to be compared to the Pope, but there you go with the poll.

So, Father Beck, what is it about, you know, this Pope that his message does seem to resonate differently, that is he is touching the lives of so many, that perhaps otherwise may not have paid any attention to any Pope Francis' message or any Pope's message.

[15:45:41] FR. EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGIOUS COMMENTATOR: Fred, I think globally, people see Pope Francis as a man of integrity. And it cuts across all Strata. It's -- he is popular with Republicans, with Democrats, with liberals, conservatives, although some conservatives have some bones to pick with them.

But I think it because they see we need a hero. People are afraid in the world right now. We just had 150 young innocent students killed because they're Christian. We have not seen this kind of heinous violence. The world community is afraid. And so, they look to people like Pope Francis to be heroic in the faith of such violence. And I think his popularity fits for himself.

But his popularity -- he doesn't have to appeal to lobbyists, to special interest groups like politicians do. He can say what he needs to say and to the chips fall where they may. I think that's why he's so popular. That's why his negative numbers are so low because people are seeing in him something they desire and they need right now.

WHITFIELD: So, his followers will hear, will listen to his message, but it's those who don't follow, who perhaps, you know, might benefit as well from the Pope's message, is there any way of gauging, John, whether people who don't typically follow, you know, the Pope, the catholic leader, you know, the Vatican, who may now be thinking or rethinking, you know, the message simply because of the way in which Pope Francis delivers a message?

ALLEN: Well, all I can tell you, Fred, I have accompanied Pope Francis into some overwhelmingly non-catholic and non-Christian environments. I mean, he's made eight foreign trips. I've been with him in Sri Lanka, where Christians are 70 percent of the population. It's a majority Buddhist nation. I have been with him in Albania, where you could put all the Catholics in a thumbnail and so on. And yet, you know, even those environments there is enormous attention to Francis' message.

And I think that's at two levels. I mean, one of it is the level of discreet, and that's I think is based to what Father Ed was talking about. But whether people share Francis' religious belief and all their particulars, they see him as a moral leader of integrity. They see him as man who walks his own talk. And I agree with Father Ed, there is a first for that.

Now, at a political and diplomatic I think there is a recognition that this is a Pope who was an extraordinarily effective political actor. I mean, let's not forget, that both the president of the United States and the president of the Cuba credited him with being the prime mover in paving the way for the restoration of diplomatic relations that the rush (ph) to which dates all the way back to the cold war.

Let's also not forget that in September of 2013 when a number of western governments including the United States were contemplating watching military strikes in Syria, to try to bring down Bashar al- Assad, Pope Francis intervened and even the president of Cuba and Russian said that it was the Pope who stopped that. With you have all that, Fred, people are going to listen.

WHITFIELD: All right, John Allen and Father Edward Beck, thanks to both you. Appreciate it. Good to see you this eater Sunday.

All right, coming up next, a record breaker at the weekend box office, Furious 7, how the fast and furious franchise has been impacted by the death of this young star.

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[15:53:02] CHAD BERNSTEIN, CNN HERO: As a kid, I struggled a lot with self-esteem, bullying, and that desire to fit in. When I found trombone, the music became the place I could do that. As a professional musician, the disappearance of music in schools concerns me, because I would be lost without music.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guitar over guns will be meeting today. Please be on time and ready to rock.

BERNSTEIN: Our program offers free after school programming to at- risk middle schoolers. Music is the most important tool we have in reaching these kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guys, if we can please finish up with the grades and go to the instruments.

BERNSTEIN: In the classroom we split the program up in 30-minute chunks, mentoring exercise, instrument instruction and ensemble experience.

I'm a professional musician. We build relationships. We get to know their families and what their lives are like at home. A lot of times, these kids only see to the end of their block. We like to give them exposure to the rest of the world.

Over there is where we will be recording vocals.

The best part about our program is watching these kids to really transform.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before the program I really wouldn't think I would be in a studio. But now I could do medicine, I could do music. I could probably even be like a teacher.

BERNSTEIN: When I see a kid have their moment, it makes you realize that we are doing work that matters.

Choose your sound!

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[15:54:46] WHITFIELD: "FURIOUS 7" is revving up, a new record at the box office. The new installment in the "the Fast and furious" series is already the best ever April opening, raking in an estimated $144 million this weekend. Rounding out the top five moneymakers "Home," "Get Hard," "Cinderella" and "Insurgent." The success of "Furious 7" is well bitter-sweet. Fans are pouring in theaters to see the film's late star Paul Walker.

Here's CNN's Paul Vercammen.

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PAUL WALKER, ACTOR: Dude, I almost had you.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paul Walker, just how tight the cast became before the release of the first "Fast and the Furious."

WALKER: You know, you hear about egos and, you know, people that are difficult to work with and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But everyone in this, we got along really well.

VERCAMMEN: Now mention Walker to his co-stars, emotions flow. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had the best spirit. He was the best guy to

be around in the world. So he's a very, very missed.

VERCAMMEN: Walker died in late 2013, riding in a 600-horsepower Porsche that wrecked and set a career. An impromptu memorial sprung up, 5,000 fans played respects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a genuine person with a big heart. He wasn't like any celebrity.

VERCAMMEN: No doubt Walker connected with fans so much because he seemed so anti-Hollywood. No entourage, no shameless publicity stunts. His generosity legendary, founding a charity helping people affected by natural disasters. Anonymously buying this $9,000 wedding ring for a newlywed soldier who could not afford it. A decade and three children later, Kristin and Kyle up told CNN it was a fairy tale. He was our fairy godfather.

WALKER: Didn't think you could get any better.

VERCAMMEN: But how in Hollywood, you take a fairy godfather figure, Walker, and finish "Fast and Furious 7"? Roughly 85 percent of Walker's parts were finished when he died. Director James Won says he used Walker's brothers to help fill the gaps.

James wan, director, fast and furious 7: They were basically acted out the scenes. They would play out the scenes like how Paul would have done it in the film.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they have dialogues?

There's also an homage to Walker in the movie. But perhaps there can be no greater tribute to a friend than naming a child in their honor. Paul Walker lives on in co-star Vin Diesel's new baby.

VIN DIESEL, ACTOR: Paul Walker was the one that told me to cut the umbilical cord. As I was cutting the umbilical cord two weeks ago, I couldn't stop but thinking about Paul and his advice. And when it came to write down the name, Pauline just came out.

I don't have friends. I have family.

VERCAMMEN: Paul Vercammen, CNN, Hollywood.

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WHITFIELD: All right, we have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts after a short break.

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